Left behind
by Trinnerti
Summary: They first stopped trainning with her, than slowly she was pushed out of the missions before she vanished from their lives. Now seeing her stronger than ever they couldn't stop but feeling guilty.Will their friendship blow up again or will this be the end
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well here is a new story from me again The main pairing is KakaSaku, but that will appear in the later chapters.

**Summary:** First they left her out of training, then missions and slowly she vanished from their lives. Now seeing the same girl they left behind walking on the streets straight past them made their hearts break. Will things go back like it was in the old days or will this be the end of their friendship for good?

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts_'

**Left behind**

A soft rustle was heard in the darkness of the night. A person rushed by, running through the woods. Jumping from one tree branch to the next, she got closer to her goal, the big green gates where her home and rest was waiting for her.

Another gust of wind blew made her hood and caused it to slide backwards a bit, revealing some of her pink locks. Grabbing her hood she pulled it back in its place. She tied her red scarf a bit tighter, hoping that it would keep the cold out.

She was so close now, she could already smell the scent of Ramen from Ichiraku's. A dull ache appeared in her heart at the scent, remembering who was probably eating there right now, along with his other two friends of course.

A long time ago, she would have sat there with them, instead of being on a mission like now. Not that it was her choice to be here instead of with them, she remembered it all to clearly what they'd to her. It was scarred into her mind forever and for that reason, she became closed up, the cheerful glint in her emerald eyes dulled until it faded and only the dark, killer look was left within them.

No, she wasn't the cheerful, naïve, little girl of 13-years old anymore. After that fated event four years ago, she was now known as the Pink Illusion, the fearless and merciless ANBU squad leader.

She stopped briefly by Izumo, giving a quick nod before disappearing again. She leapt up onto the roofs, not wanting to run into anyone when she was heading to the Hokage tower, to give in her report before she could finally lie down in her bed.

She leapt over to the next building, glancing briefly to the right to see three shadows sitting next together, talking together and having fun as if nothing had ever happened. It only made the hole in her heart bigger, tears started to shine in her eyes but quickly she blinked them away.

'_They aren't worth my tears, not anymore'_ she told herself, and turned to fix her gaze on Hokage tower, not noticing a head popping out of the stand the moment he felt her charka signature, and a lone onyx eye following her movement to Hokage tower, before it disappeared again.

She stopped in front of the tower, sighing softly before straightening her back and walking inside. She knocked softly on the door three times, waiting for the 'come in', and when it came she walked quietly into the room. Closing the door behind her she could already could smell the faint scent of sake and the dried ink on the papers. She smiled unconsciously, the familiar scent told her that she was finally home, not on that terrible mission anymore.

She turned around, looking at the blonde Hokage sitting behind the desk, not troubling herself to hide the sake which was standing on the desk. She walked forwards stopping short, a few inches from the desk and handing her the mission report.

"You're late."

"I ran into some trouble, it's all in the report."

Tsunade nodded looking from the still closed scroll now in her hand to the woman standing before her. She'd already placed the mask on the side of her face, the mask which was shaped as a fox referring to her crafty skill on missions and the way she could sneak up on her targets, letting them suffer in her genjutsu before she killed them. She was proud on her former student, don't forget that, but the hard and deadened look in her emerald eyes made her heart fill with sympathy for the girl.

The moment she knew what had happened, she scrapped Sakura from Team 7, not that they already hadn't done that, and placed her under her full guidance. She learned everything from Tsunade, from her healing jutsu's to her killing moves to summoning her slugs. From Shizune, the poison specialist, she learnt the most efficient and deadliest poison's to help her to succeed in the following missions. Thanks to them Sakura had passed her exams from chuunin to jounin with ease.

She wanted to join ANBU too, but realised she needed more than the skills she had already learned. She knew that she was a natural genjutsu person, and she'd gone to Kurenai for her aid. Months after beginning training with her, improving on her already good skills, had made her a genjutsu specialist. Next she had gone to Gai to work on her speed and taijutsu. A year after starting her training she finally thought she was ready to go for it and pleaded with Tsunade to let her take the exams. After much whining and the one argument over how she needed to do this to prove to them what she had become, how much better she had now become, Tsunade finally gave in.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a cough from the pink haired woman before her.

"Yes what were you saying Sakura?"

"I'm rather tired from the long journey so if you don't mind I'd like to go home. Unless there's anything important, something that can't wait until tomorrow?"

"No, no you can go," Tsunade quickly said, dismissing the girl with a wave of her hand.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama," and with a swirl of petals she was gone.

Tsunade sighed and took another sip from her sake cup before turning around in her chair, and glancing at the world outside the window. The Sakura who'd just stood before her wasn't the real Sakura she began to train years ago. No, that cheerful one died a painful death after her team had left her behind, the only hope was that she was able to forgive them for what they had done to her. And if Tsunade knew the girl as well she thought she did, that chance was slim to none. She took another sip, her look was saddened. _'If there was only something I could do to bring the old one back.'_

Sakura dropped her keys on the table next to the door before bending down to untie the bindings of her boots. After she was finished she kicked them off, then grabbing them and putting them away neatly in the closet. Ino hated it when she left them in the hallway.

Unwrapping her scarf she walked into the living room to find her best friend Ino lying on the couch. She placed her scarf along with her ANBU mask on the dinner table, before walking towards the blonde sleeping nin and crouched down before her.

The deep circles under her eyes told Sakura that her friend hadn't been sleeping well the past few days. She sighed annoyed, Ino always worried too much about her when she went away for a solo ANBU mission. She stood up to snatch down the blanket which hung over the couch before laying it down on Ino, wrapping it softly around her so she wouldn't get it cold in the night.

She stood up once again, untying her travelling cloak and throwing it over the chair before walking into the bathroom.

Letting the shower run she walked into the kitchen to fetch the first aid kit before setting off to the bathroom again. Even though she was a medic and could easily heal the cut she got from one of her opponents, she didn't want to waste her chakra on it when she just wanted to rest and sleep and recharge her chakra. Putting the medic kit down on the sink she quickly stripped off her clothes, actually enjoying the stinging feeling when she peeled the clothes away from her cut.

She stepped into the shower, letting the water fall down on her. She closed her eyes. It was one of the rare occasions she would actually let her guard down for just a little bit. Not being the infamous Pink Illusion but just her, just Haruno Sakura. The water always washed away the blood she had spilled from that night on her mission, washed away all the thoughts which would come to her again in her dreams. But some thoughts never seemed to wash away, she always thought back to **them**.

_Flash back_

_"Oh Sakura, the training is already over, we'll speak to you later okay.?" Naruto said smiling brightly before running off._

_"Oh you don't need to take time off from the hospital Sakura, I think me, Naruto and Sasuke can handle this," a lazy voice spoke from behind his precious Icha Icha book._

_End flash back_

Sakura snapped her eyes open, noticing that tears were leaking out of her eyes, since the scent of salt gave it away. She angrily wiped them away. She remembered clearly, the memories were vividly imprinted in her brain. Slowly they started to train while she was doing hospital shifts, or simply leaving her out of training sessions or else not telling her. She simply shrugged it off that they thought she was training with Tsunade.

Then they started pushing her out of the missions, saying they didn't need a medic for this mission because it was simply** too** easy, or it wasn't worth her time. She shrugged it off that they wanted her to focus on her medic career.

But then they had even stopped hanging out with her, no more eating by the ramen stand after their return. She was pushed from their lives, her heart breaking with it. She cried over it, getting her almost to the point she couldn't handle it anymore. And when she didn't show up for her shift, Tsunade had gone looking and found her crying in the training ground she always used to train her, knowing immediately that something was wrong. After she'd told her what happened, she'd reassigned Sakura from their team, putting her under her full charge instead.

Which of course led up to the way she was now. She hadn't talked to them since they'd stopped hanging out with her, refusing to return their calls on her birthday and avoiding them on the streets. She stopped caring and shut herself off, only Ino and her ANBU team mates were the ones she was talking to, and strangely also Neji. After she made jounin she was paired up with the Hyuuga a lot, she really could talk to him and he was focused on the missions and talked about stuff that was important to both of them and not the nonsense rambling she was so used to hearing from Naruto. But loving someone like she had her boys, was something she couldn't do anymore. She'd simply forgotten how and had no urge to remember it.

She snapped out of it when she heard soft knocking on the bathroom door.

"Sakura are you there?"

Sakura turned off the water before wrapping a towel around her soaking wet body. "Yes Ino, I'm here."

She could hear the relieved sigh from Ino, making her smile a little.

"You're late," Her angry voice rang through the door. Sakura only rolled her eyes, and finished drying herself off. She was only a week late, so it wasn't really that big a deal.

"I ran into some trouble, no biggie."

She put on her clean garments and binding the cut on her left arm before opening the door.

"It was about time-" Ino started before looking startled at her bandaged left arm.

Alarmed she pulled Sakura to the kitchen seeing that the blood was already starting to shine through.

"How did you get this? Does it hurt?" She asked worried.

Sakura only rolled her eyes at her roommate. She carefully pulled herself out of Ino's grasp, not wanting to hurt the girl, before grabbing her stuff and walking in the direction of her room.

"An ally of my opponent got a lucky shot, I didn't expect it. It's nothing."

"Well just be more careful forehead, I don't want to live alone in this place."

"You could always ask Tenten to live with you," Sakura replied yawning slightly.

"I'm being serious here!" Ino yelled, clearly livid.

She worried so much over her friend, and had even thought she was dead when she wasn't back five days over time. She couldn't sleep and stood by the gates hoping she would come soon. Not that she would tell her, she didn't want Sakura to feel pity for her.

After Sasuke had left, she and Sakura became very close friends. And even when he came back nothing had changed between their friendship. Ino saw Sakura as her own sister, even though they had their cat fights with each other of course, only to apologize moments after and make it up by going out together bar hopping. She really cared for the pink haired girl, and couldn't understand how she could think so lightly of it.

Sakura turned around, sighing inwardly when she saw her blue eyes already shining with the tears that were welling up. She threw her stuff on her bed before walking to Ino, hugging her.

Ino's eyes widened at Sakura's action, before snapping back and she hugged the girl back. It wasn't like they hadn't hugged before but with Sakura you could never know, exactly which mood she would be in and what way she would be acting.

"I'm sorry I said that. I didn't mean it. I know you couldn't sleep because of me, but please don't worry, I'll come always back for you pig."

Ino scoffed, nudging her friend playfully. "You better, Forehead."

Sakura smiled softly. "Now, if you don't mind I'm gonna crash into my bed and I won't wake up for a few hours."

She let Ino go and turned around sharply, with a little wave of her hand she wished Ino goodbye before closing the door behind her. Ino watched her until the door closed behind her pink haired friend. She turned to the first aid kit, grabbed it and put it back into it's place before walking off to her own bedroom. She didn't feel like cleaning up and she would wash Sakura's uniform tomorrow. She glanced one more time at her door whispering softly, "Welcome back Sakura," before closing her own door behind her.

* * *

A/N: Well this is the first chapter, hoped you liked it. About the updates i don't know how long it's gonna take becausse i'm also writing Power of Youth and I'm busy trying to think over a squel for Sakura's secret. But i'll try to update as soon as possible. Ciao for now!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I want to thank the every reader and the who added my story to alert/favourite list. I'm glad you like it. Also thank you for the lovely reviews, It really gives me a boost to write :). If there's anything you like to see in one of my stories, please tell me. I try my best to keep my writers satisfied. Also special thanks to you V. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 2:**

The next day, it was quite busy at Ichiraku's. Like always, there seated at the counter was the blonde knucklehead Ninja, Naruto Uzumaki, sitting with his two team mates, Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake. Chatting nonchalantly about the training they had just done, while eating a bowl of ramen. Well, it was more Naruto and Sasuke did that, in front of the silver haired shinobi was already an empty bowl, his face hidden behind a book as he occasionally murmured in agreement.

But next to the usual group was another group, three people to be exact. A woman with long red hair and violet eyes, silently listing to the bickering of the two men beside her, her team mates to be exact. She sighed in an annoyed way, wishing that their captain was back, so at least somebody could get a hold of these two. They never stopped arguing when their captain was gone, always trying to rival one another. But the moment she made her presence known, they were acting like professionals and no rival spirit was seen in miles between them, as was usually the case.

She glanced to her right side where Renge was sitting. He was usually calm, kind and always up for a talk. He always thought things over before he did them and his specialty was strategy and ninjutsu. He also seemed very good with arranged weapons. He had dark blonde/light brown, short hair barely reaching his shoulders, his bangs falling every way possible. His dark blue eyes were currently staring frustratedly behind her at Daisuke. The woman then glanced at her other male team mate who was totally different from Renge.

Unlike Renge, Daisuke had long dark brown hair that reached to his shoulder blades, which was then bound together in a low pony tail. Some of his bangs falling in front of his eyes and the side of his face. His specialty was Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, and he had a way with daggers. He was known as a flirt, had no trouble getting any girl he really wanted, he was arrogant but even though his attitude was sometimes really annoying and he was always competing with Renge when their captain was gone, he really did care about his team. He was really protective over them, especially her it seemed, every unwanted guy who dared to touch her or look at her in a way he didn't like, had to run for his life to save himself from Daisuke's wrath. She really hated it when he did that, but it showed her that he really cared about her she supposed.

And their captain, well she wasn't always like she was now, she guessed. She'd heard some story's about her past, and knew she was a really kind and loving girl once. But something had happened, changing her into the way she was now. She always acted cold, hard and uncaring. But she knew she didn't mean it that way, she just couldn't act any other way. She knew her captain cared about her, about the whole team for that matter. She always carried the drunk Daisuke home after a night out with the team, so he wouldn't get into trouble with fan girls taking advantage of him and made sure that he arrived home safely. She'd helped her get into her new apartment, and was there for her when she was dumped by her first love.

So maybe she was acting cold, harsh and uncaring during training and missions, but that didn't mean she didn't really care. She watched over them silently, teaching them that even though she was hard on them, it would only make them stronger in the long run, because the real world out there wasn't as nice and fancy as their parents had told them when they were still toddlers. And for that, Nami thanked her captain. For making her stand on her own, teaching her to be independent, and if there was something she really couldn't handle on her own, she knew that her captain would stand beside her.

She sighed once again when the volume of Daisuke's voice raised. Renge had probably said something to damage his ego once again she figured. Seriously, for somebody who was so smart, he really could act stupid sometimes.

"I wonder how captain is doing," She said quietly to herself, she poked her ramen with her sticks, feeling a bit depressed.

Noticing the chance in her mood, Daisuke and Renge stopped arguing. Their captain was late, over a week in fact, and still there was no message to say that she was safe and sound.

"Don't worry Nami, captain will be fine," Renge said comfortingly, petting her on her shoulder. "You know how tough she is."

"Yeah, she's in a lot of bingo books, you should give her some credit," Daisuke broke in. "And you have to face it, she isn't as amazing as me, so of course it took her a little longer."

Renge snorted annoyed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah I'd like to see you try it. She can beat you with her pinkie dude."

Nami rolled her eyes again, feeling the anger boiling up in Daisuke again. Seriously why couldn't they act normal?

Daisuke scowled, turning his anger against Renge again. "Asshole, you know that's not true!"

"Yea, that's not true, she'd just have to look at you and you'd already be running away."

That was it. Nami leaned backwards, her feet clinging to the bar so she wouldn't fall off her chair. Daisuke flew at Renge, knocking him off the chair and hitting a blonde nin in the ribs, knocking him successfully off the chair he was sitting on, while they were wrestling together.

"Take that back nerd!"

"Never, girl!" he replied, pulling on his ponytail.

"Hey that hurts, Strawhead!" Daisuke said pulling on the bangs of his team mate.

Nami stood up, ignoring the yells and the two idiots who were unfortunately her team mates, and walked over to the blonde nin who was hit by one of her team mates. She stuck out her hand, which the blonde shinobi took and standing up he dusted himself off.

"I'm really sorry about their behaviour and them knocking you off the chair."

"Ah it's alright," the blonde nin waved it off. His bright blue eyes looked at her before smiling and sticking his hand out.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

Nami nodded, smiling to herself and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Nami Liang."

"What are you doing here?"

"Hanging out with my team mates I suppose, were kinda waiting for our captain, she's a bit late."

"Well your captain must have something in common with our team leader then, he's always late!"

The silver haired man looked up, glared dangerously at the blonde nin with his onyx eye before turning and starting to read again.

"No, not that kind of late. Her deadline for her mission was a week ago and she hasn't come back yet." Nami said softly.

"Oh, that kind of late," Naruto said uncomfortable. He knew he'd made the woman sad again, and he didn't want to do that.

" Brainless!"

"Ouch! Let go of my hair!"

"Get off me first, you oaf!"

"Look in the mirror at yourself fatty!"

Nami sweatdropped. "Excuse me Naruto-san," she murmered softly, turning around and trying to break her team mates apart.

"Come on guys stop it already!"

She was completly ignored as usual and only got a hard shove in her stomach when she tried to grab Daisuke off of Renge. Falling on her back she winced softly, the air knocked out of her.

"That's enough." A cold voice rang through the air.

Nami opened her eyes in shock, not noticing she had them closed when she saw her captain, standing behind her.

Daisuke and Renge stopped struggling immediately when they heard that all to familiar voice.

"Captain," All three team mates breathed out at the same time.

Uchiha looked up, his eyes wide as he stared at the pink haired woman standing behind the red haired woman, currently looking at the two idiots who were fighting. Naruto's jaw dropped, and he couldn't utter a word out of his mouth. A soft thud was heard, but nobody seemed to care about the little orange book that the famous copy nin had just dropped out of his hand. The whole ramen stand was looking at the pink haired woman.

Her hair was back to normal length, dancing softly on the wind, her skin still held the peachy complexion, her lips had turned a shade pinker and her face was slimmer and more defined. Her emerald green eyes were a shade darker than Naruto could remember, but he then again, he didn't know anything of the woman standing there. She was a complete stranger to him now.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto uttered out loud.

Sakura ignored the call of the blonde shinobi and concentrated her attention on her two male team mates.

"Daisuke, get off Renge, now." Her tone was cold and held no room for argument.

Daisuke stood up instantly, bowing deeply while his face turned a slight red from embarrassment. "I'm sorry captain."

Renge stood up the moment Daisuke was off his body.

He glanced at their captain, seeing she was abnormally stiff, stiffer then ever before. He shrugged it off, thinking that it was because she ran into them fighting in public, but that wasn't something new, it was something she was accustomed to. He glanced at the blonde haired nin who was still gaping at his captain. He'd blurted out her name, so he must know her personally, seeing the honorific he put after her name. But then again, she'd never mentioned him before and glancing to the other two men sitting there, they were all gaping at her. What the hell was going on? He turned his gaze back to Sakura again, making a mental note to ask her later.

"You're late." He pointed out.

"Ran into some trouble." Was her reply.

Nami stood up, dusting herself off before glancing at her captain again. Her gaze lingered on the bandage which was wrapped around her left arm.

"You're injured." Nami said quietly.

Sakura's gaze turned from Renge to Nami. "They got a lucky shot, it's nothing."

"You're getting rusty captain, normally no one can hit you."

"Referring to your self Daisuke?" Sakura replied mockingly.

Renge and Nami chuckled while Daisuke scowled slightly. Sakura smirked, loving to tease her team from time to time. Deciding that it was time to be professional again however, her smile vanished and she cleared her throat.

"I expect all three of you at the training grounds in exactly two hours. Am I understood?"

"Yes captain," they replied in unison.

"Good." She was about to turn away, she didn't really feel so good with her former team gaping at her. She really didn't want to talk to them, see them or anything else for that matter. They'd pushed her out of their lives, she didn't need them back either. She was doing perfectly on her own. She lifted her hand to make some seals when Nami's voice made her pause in her movements.

"Welcome back Sakura. I'm glad your home safe."

Sakura smiled a fake smile, knowing that they won't notice the difference between a real one from her anyway. They'd never seen her smile as if she really meant it. With a wave of her hand, she disappeared in a swirl of petals.

The moment Sakura disappeared Renge let out a laugh. "Damn, she got you hard man."

"But she didn't have to say that to me," Daisuke pouted.

"Yeah maybe, but you asked for it and you gave her the chance to do it," Nami entered.

"Well I'm off, I'm going to prepare myself for the hours of torture captain is going to put us in." Renge turned slightly looking at the frozen silver haired shinobi, which was still looking at the spot where Sakura had stood earlier. In fact all three males were still looking to that spot. What's wrong with them?

"You're book is still lying on the ground," Renge pointed out before poofing away.

"Yeah, thanks." Kakashi muttered still frozen and thinking about what had happened a few minutes ago.

"Well I'll see you over a few hours, Nami," Daisuke said before following Renge example by poofing away.

"Assholes, leaving me with the bill again," Nami mutterd annoyed, turning back towards her chair she sat down, stirring her chopsticks into her now cold ramen. She really wasn't hungry anymore. She looked up when she felt a gaze on her. She glanced to the side to see Naruto staring at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Sakura-chan is your captain?" He asked in awe.

"Yeah, she has been for two years now. I'm so glad to be part of her team, I wish I could be more like her, but every kunoichi wishes that."

"Hn. Why is that?" The stoic Sasuke asked, suddenly interested in the female.

"She's a top ranked ANBU squad leader, was the Hokage's apprentice and not to mention she's the infamous Pink Illusion."

"The Pink Illusion?" His eyes had gotten so wide it looked as if they would be popping out of his head soon.

"Yeah, the one written in almost every bingo book." Nami said smiling. "Like I said, I'm honoured to be a part of her life and I wouldn't want to trade my spot for anything."

She didn't know that she hit the other three males deeply in their hearts with the sentence she just said.

She glanced at her watch and quickly stood up. Laying down some money for the food she and her team mates had ordered. Turning away from her food she smiled at Naruto.

"Well it was nice meeting you. If you'll excuse me, I need to prepare myself for training." With that said she turned away, and started walking towards her home.

"Wow, Sakura-chan looked really awesome back there," Naruto said, turning towards his own team mates.

"Hn."

Kakashi picked up his book and dusted if off. He sighed, opening his book and starting to read further. So it seemed that Sakura had done quite well without them, being ANBU squad leader and all. He flipped over a page, but since he had seen Sakura, he couldn't concentrate anymore. Why did it hurt so deeply in his heart when she didn't even spare a glance at them. As if she was oblivious that they were there. But he should have seen it coming, they were the ones who walked out on her in the first place after all. Somewhere deep inside of their hearts, they knew they'd made the biggest mistake of their life to walk away from the only female member of their team. Sasuke had said she was just a pain in the ass, but she was always the one they could count on to give them back up or healing should they need it. So maybe she wasn't a pain in their asses, but maybe they were a pain in hers? Ever since she'd been gone, team Kakashi just wasn't the same anymore. And looking to the team she had now, they would rather die than give her up. So was there a chance to get her back or was their friendship over for good?

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviwes and favs and alerts. I'm so glad you guys like the story so much :) It really keeps me writing on with a smile on my face :) Well enough chatter of me, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

**Chapter 3:**

A swirl of pink petals appeared on the ANBU training field. The spinning motion increased, and soon after that, a pair of black leather boots appeared, lashes crossing on the leather to keep them together, followed by a pair of feminine legs clad in black jounin pants, pushed into her boots and her left leg was bandaged on her upper thigh. The pants hugging the wearers frame. On her hands she wore black gloves, similar to the ones she'd worn when she trained under the Fifth Hokage herself. Her chest was covered by a red sleeveless shirt, and on her back, close to her neck was a small white circle visible, letting other people know she was from the Haruno clan. Pink hair was eventually viewed, and once Haruno Sakura was completely visible, the petals stopped spinning and disapeared, leaving a few falling softly on the ground around her.

Since Ino was washing her normal ANBU uniform, Sakura had no other choice than to put on her old jounin pants she hadn't worn for a long time along with the Haruno clan shirt. Not that she hated it to wear it mind you, but she preferred her ANBU uniform over this. When she wore the tight black and white uniform, everyone feared her, knowing she could take them down with once glance if you got on the wrong side off her. It showed her power and let the people around her know that she belonged to the high elite and you really wouldn't want to mess with her.

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes briefly. Maybe she'd looked cold and harsh a few minutes ago, but being in her former team's presence, she'd felt like screaming. Wanted to yell at them, ask why they had abandoned her, leaving her behind while she tried her best to keep up with them. But clearly it wasn't good enough, seeing as they walked straight out of her life without a backward glance.

She snapped her eyes open, her mouth letting out a snarl of anger. How could she have been so foolish? Trusting them with her life only for them to turn around and stab her not only in the back, but also through her heart. She should have known the moment that Sasuke had left the village and Naruto went away for three years with Jiriaya for training, that they didn't care about her. Kakashi had walked away, throwing himself into missions while she was still there, begging for some attention from the famous copy nin, wanting to get trained by him like he should have done all along. But no, he'd turned his back, just waiting for Naruto to come back before going after their lost teammate, not once visiting the female member of their team. She should have gotten the clue then that she didn't mean anything to them.

And when Naruto came back, they went after Sasuke and then they finally found him and dragged him back to the village. All three male's had sat around the fire while she was on patrol, knowing that the boys had a connection with each other, something she didn't share, didn't understand, since she wasn't male herself. But leaving her out then, shouldn't have struck her so hard since she was left out before, but it had. It really badly had.

Her hands clenched at the bitter memory, a dark aura flowing around her. Wanting to get the anger out of her she searched for something to release her wrath on. To bad her team mates weren't here yet, but then again, it wouldn't be at all fair to them if she released her anger on them when they hadn't been the ones who did anything wrong. They weren't the ones leaving her behind, unlike 'her' boys, or she'd used to call them her boys anyway. Now to her they were just a bad memory.

She smirked and the cold air around her vanished when she thought back to the awe struck looks on the faces of her former team. It made her feel much better and showed them what they've were been missing out on. She was the first one who'd gotten into ANBU and she'd made it to squad leader, leaving every one of the rookie nine behind her. She remembered the proud face of her Shishou, giving her the rank of ANBU squad leader while her close friends, her true friends smiled and cheered for her. None of 'her' boys were invited to her celebration party, they had only heard of the party the day after, since all the jounin were talking about it. The little pink haired girl whom everybody once thought wouldn't make it, was now one of the strongest Kunoichi of the village.

The stumbling voice of Naruto had grabbed at her heart though, it had sounded so sad and pitiful. His blue eyes staring at her as if she wasn't real, that she wasn't really there, but also at the same time the hurt and shame showing through. It almost made her…

No, she wouldn't think of it again. It was their choice to walk out on her, their choice to lose her, and now she didn't need them anymore, she was more than capable of taking care of her self and her team, no longer trying to shine from within the shadows of her former team mates, no now they were in **her** shadow.

Sakura decided to sit down by a nearby tree, wanting to meditate to put her mask back up, knowing if she didn't get her act together, she could break right there in front of her team mates, and that was the last thing she wanted to do, to appear weak in front of their eyes while they all relied and leaned on her strength. No that would never do.

They never saw her cry or break down, she only let that side of her out when she was safe in her room, only Ino saw that side of her but even then not very often, maybe two or three times, she guessed.

She stretched her back and sat down resting against the bark of a tree, crossing her legs in front of her and closing her eyes. She began pushing herself into a calm state where she could feel relaxed, but stilll feeling everything that was around her. She would wait here for two hours for the arrival of her team, she didn't feel like going home and facing Ino with her annoying questions.

She sat there for an hour or so she guessed before she felt a familiar presence walking carefully towards her. He stopped a few yards away from her, hesitating to come closer and risking a pissed off captain if he didn't watch out. He apparently took the risk since he came closer and stopped in front of her, a shadow fell over her and Sakura sighed.

"Could you move, you're blocking the sun."

A rustle of clothing reached her ears and without opening her eyes she knew he had sat down beside her. They sat like that side by side for a while, in total silence before Renge decided to ask the question that had raced through his thoughts since the meeting with his captain in the Ramen stand.

"Who were those guys back there?"

"Who do you mean?"

"The ones back at Ichiraku's."

Sakura sighed, not really wanting to speak about this topic, but she'd known this would come up eventually. She only hoped it took a few more years before she had to tell them the truth, but then again it was up her choice to share this with them, it wasn't like she owed them a truthful answer.

"What about them?"

"How do they know you?"

"Like everybody else knows me," was her only reply.

Renge scoffed. He should have guessed that Sakura wouldn't let it out that easily, she was an ANBU captain after all, trained to keep secrets and take them to her grave, not telling a soul a single word. It wasn't really his right to ask about her past either but then again maybe it was. If it was bothering his captain so much surely keeping it inside wasn't a good thing, he would do anything to make her feel better but to do that, he first needed to know what was wrong.

"Cut the crap captain, you know what I mean. He called you Sakura-chan, to call you that must mean he knows you personally. And then there was the way the three of them were gaping at you, as if they'd seen somebody they hadn't seen for a long time."

Sakura sighed irritated. She knew Renge would figure it out, he was her best strategist after all. He could look at every scene and tell her what was the best plan to act upon or what the hell was going on. So seeing the little scene back in the Ramen stand, he would of course know what was happening.

"I don't want to talk about them, they're part of my past, and that's all I'll tell you."

"There must be something more to it since you stiffened when you saw them. Something must have happened with them. What did they do to you?"

Sakura snapped her eyes open and narrowed them, glaring at her team mate. "It's none of your business Renge, so drop it." Sakura said sternly making it clear she didn't want to talk about it.

Renge nearly flinched at the look his captain gave him. The hatred, the hurt shining and flickering in her eyes made him want to hug her in sympathy. But a second after that it was gone, only the heated glare fixed on him was left. Fine, he would drop it for now, but that didn't mean he would let it go that easily.

He turned his gaze away and apologized softly. "I'm sorry captain, but I'm worried about you."

"Well don't be, it's annoying. So stop it."

"I can't help it Sakura, our team means everything to me, don't you understand what bothers you is bothers all of us?"

Sakura snarled. "I'll tell you this one more time Renge, drop the topic or I'll throw you in one of my genjutsu for a few hours as punishment."

Feeling the other two of his team approach he knew his time to get it out of her was over. '_Maybe next time I'll get more information, or maybe I should talk about it with one of the guys who made her so uncomfortable. I won't let this rest until I'll get to the bottom of things, you can count on that captain_.'

He leaned in, his mouth close to her ear. "Fine, but you're not off the hook yet captain." After saying that he drew back, getting back on his feet and dusting him self off before turning away, looking in the direction of where he could see his two team mates arriving.

Sakura stared at him with her cold emerald eyes, her hands itching to hit the man. Who did he think he was trying to meddle in her past or her relationships with other shinobi of the leaf village? Knowing that if she did hit him, her team would get very suspicious and ask why she had done it, she refrained, she didn't want the other two to start as well. One was bad enough, thank you very much.

Standing up herself, she waited patiently for Nami and Daisuke to catch up with them before she could start their training.

"Hey Renge, you're early," Daisuke pointed out. "Needed some woman advice from captain?"

"No, I don't need it, unlike you," Renge replied calmly.

Nami rolled her eyes, thinking _'Oh god, here they go again.'_ She glanced at her captain, who really didn't look happy at all for some reason, not that she usually looked happy, but her eyes were darker than usual right now. The bickering of course started and a loud cough stopped them, thankfully making them notice that indeed their captain was back, and she wouldn't tolerate this behaviour at all.

"When you two kiddies are done, I'd like to start the training."

"Yes, captain." They all replied, their childish behaviour vanished into thin air and the professional and serious attitude coming back. Giving their full attention to her instructions and ideas to improve their teamwork and skills.

Hearing her plans for today's training, they all groaned inwardly. This was going to be a torture like they had foreseen.

When the sun was begging to set, three soft thuds were heard. Sakura appeared in front of them, smiling devilishly at her team mates who had all dropped to the ground. Maybe, just maybe she'd gone a little too hard on them, but then again, she couldn't exactly tell their enemies to hold in if they went too hard on them.

"Don't tell me you guys are tired already, We've only have been training for a few hours."

"A few hours?! We trained for 9 hours for gods sake!" Daisuke yelled out panting hard. His nose was bleeding from the blow he had gotten from Sakura when he wasn't paying enough attention.

"And without a break no less!" Nami said falling in with him. Damn, something had displeased her captain an awful lot for her to go this hard on them. Normally she would give them a break to catch up their breath before starting again. But this time she didn't even wanted to hear the word, she'd made it clear to them they'd get suck in one of her torture genjutsu otherwise.

Sakura smirked, letting her Katana slide back into its saya. Maybe, just maybe she'd gone a little too far, but it was not like she would admit it to them of course. She would rather face a thousand S-ranked criminals then admit that she was too hard on them.

She crossed her arms and looked from one team mate to the other. "Fine, training is over for today. I'll expect you guys back on this spot at 10 am tomorrow though."

"Captain, aren't you going to hang out with us tonight to celebrate your return?" Nami asked hopefully.

Sakura sighed, not really wanting to go, but she knew they would find a way to drag her out of her apartment, especially if Ino was there. She always joined the side of her team mates to get her out once in a while.

Looking at the hopeful look on Nami's face Sakura sighed again, knowing she couldn't say no. "Where are we going then?" Sakura asked defeated.

Nami beamed smiling even though her muscles ached painfully and the bruised ribs weren't really that comfortable. "To the Broken Bottle."

"Great," Sakura muttered, knowing it was a place where her old friends hung around a lot.

"Trust me captain, you won't regret it, I promise you'll have a good time."

'_I'm already regretting it._' Sakura thought sadly, but she smiled anyway for Nami's sake.

"We'll pick you up at eight, so be ready!" Daisuke said smiling.

Sakura nodded, giving a slight wave of her hand before performing the seals to teleport herself to her apartment.

"I'm glad she's back, it feels like were complete when she's around don't you think?" Nami asked smiling and lying back down carefully, watching the sky with her male team mates.

"Yeah," Daisuke grunted in agreement. He turned his head slightly to look at their dark blonde haired team mate. His silence worried him a little bit. Normally he would join in the conversation, but this time he kept silent.

"Everything alright Renge?"

Renge snapped his eyes to Daisuke, hearing his name. "Huh what?"

Nami raised her eyebrow confused. This was not usual for Renge to daze off, or maybe she was reading too much into it and he was just probably tired from the torture training Sakura had put them through.

"It feels great to have captain back doesn't it?"

"Yeah, great." Renge murmured. He stood up and dusted himself off. "I'll see you later," were his last words, before he poofed away.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I have no idea." Nami said, glancing at the spot where Renge had stood a few moments ago.

"Well I'm going to get myself ready before going to Sakura's apartment. I'll meet you at the broken bottle."

"Yup see you there." They hugged each other briefly before going both their own ways to get themselves ready for tonight.

* * *

Sasuke opened the door to his own house before slamming it shut. He never thought Sakura of all people would become that strong. And the way she looked, she'd grown up a lot, she was taller but still a head shorter than him, he guessed. Her eyes were so dark though, and her attitude was so cold, it hurt that it was all because of him.

He walked into the living room, seeing a letter lying on his table. His eyes widened and he quickly scanned the room for a presence. When he knew he was truly alone, he picked up the letter.

_Don't forget the deal Sasuke,_

_You deliver us the Kyuubi and the Copy Nin and we give you your brother,_

_You have a week._

Sasuke looked up and sighed. The deal was getting out of hand, they were getting impatient already. He burned the paper, not wanting to leave evidence lying around which could cause him to look suspicious. Letting himself drop on the couch, he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead in annoyance. He needed to get his plan set in motion then if he ever wanted to avenge his clan.

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

**Chapter 4:**

'_Man this sucks,_'Sakura thought annoyed when she opened the door to let herself in the apartment she shared with Ino. Throwing the keys on the table she walked into the living room. Not sensing her roommate's chakra signal she guessed she went to the flower shop of her parents.

She was relieved that she had some time for her own, not the nagging of Ino in her ear that she should get a boyfriend or needed to hang out more. Especially since she was trapped intoa night to go out with her team. She saw a little piece of paper lying on the kitchen table. Looking on it briefly and seeing the neat handwriting from her friend, she knew that her supsious was right, she went to her parents flower shop and would be back before dinner.

Grabbing something to drink she left herself fall down on the couch and closed her eyes briefly. The silence was music to her ears. These were the few times she could just sit back and relax. Not worrying about some friend walking in or in need or her guidance or help, just her. Bringing her glass to her mouth she took a sip of her drink before she putted down on table in front of her. Deciding to read a book to pass some time before she would get ready for the meeting at The Broken Bottle, she walked into the room, smiling when she saw her ANBU uniform folded and clean on her made bed.

Walking to the other side of her room she grabbed a random book she borrowed from Nami, she walked back to the living room. Sighing happily and taking another sip of her drink, she made herself comfortable on the couch before opening the book and starting to read.

* * *

Feeling the air around him go colder everytime he stepped closer to the sound of the river, he knew he was getting close. Honestly he didn't know what to think when that boy, or should he say a man contacted him. Why going all the trouble to get him here while he could deliver the message to the Hokage himself? He was a shinobi after all, it wouldn't have been a problem for him. But no, he just had to drag him into it.

He scowled soflty when he stumbled over a root. He really hated to go deep into the forrest, you really needed to watch your step for all the traps lying around and the rogue ninja's or bandits everywhere. Seeing the densse of the forest getting thiner and thiner, he finally arrived at his destination. He gulped nervously to see a tall, slight masclur man leaning against the rock. He wore dark jounin pants and above that a dark blue shirt, knowing that on his back his clan symbol was printed. His hair was black and spikey, his face was pale and slim, just like his lips were slight darker but and tin line. His red sharigan eyes looking at him with annoyance.

"It took you long enough."

"My apologies, it was on a short notice for my defense."

"Hn." The man leaning against the rock straighted himself before his hand slipped to his pocket.

The man looked slight uncomfortable in his presence, and kept his eyes glued at his hand. His sighed inwardly relieved when the hand only pulled a scroll out of his pocket. The man tossed it to him and he quickled caught it.

"It is of great importance that the Hokage will get this, understood?" His cold voice asked will no room of disobiedant.

"Of course, but can I ask why you don't bring it yourself? You're from the village."

The tempature dropped a few degrees at his question and the heated glare made him want to squirm in fear. "That's none of your concern, just bring the damned scroll to the Hokage and not mentioning how you got it from me." Sasuke snarled.

He rolled his eyes to the idiot standing before him, really how could that man be so stupid? He looked at him again when his voice reached his ears.

"Fine, fine I'll do it. But only because I owe you since you helped me to get in touch with Akatsuki."

Sasuke smirked and slowly started to walk towards the man. When he stood right in front of him he grabbed his collar yanking him towards him and forcing him to meet his eyes.

"What are you doing?" He asked terrified. "I said I would do it!"

"Just to make sure you don't mess this up," Sasuke answered, and smirked when his Sharingan started to spin wildly, messing with the man's memory. "That should do it." He dropped the man who slumped to the floor.

Sasuke glanced at him one more time before he turned his back, making his way back to the village. _'And now the game begins._'

* * *

Sakura shook her head annoyed at her blonde friend, who raced back in her bedroom to change when she heard that Sakura and her team would go out. Since she already knows her team and was part of their 'little family' or so Ino called her group, she wanted to go allong. Sakura just shrugged her shoulders and agreed, one person or less, it wouldn't matter. She would only stay for a few hours and watch silently over her team that they would be alright, that they didn't to stupid things.

She putted on her favourite pair of jeans and a black tank top with a red line from her shoulder to her waist. She wanted to put on her boots but Ino sntached it out of her hands and handed her her pair of sileteos, making her taller than she already was. She wore some eye-liner to make her eyes come out and putted her hair in a low pony-tail.

With her legs crossed, she waited patiently for her friend to finish and her team mate to show up and going to The Broken Bottle. '_I really need to learn to say no to Nami,_' Sakura thought miserably. Really she didn't mind hanging out with her team, but the bar they were going to was the most populair from Konoha for both cillivian and shinobi. If they went to a quiet place she wouldn't mind at all, and would go out more, she really didn't like the big crowds, espcially since their hang out places were also the favourite ones of her former team.

Sighing once again she turned her head briefly to look at the clock. It was almost time and Ino wasn't out of her room yet. Leaning back against the couch looked out of the window, she only looked up when she heard slight knocking on her door. Standing up she walked to the front door, opening it to reveal Nami in a very cute violet dress matching her eyes.

"Hey Captain, you look great," Nami said smiling.

"Sakura smiled back, stepping back to allow Nami inside. "Were not on duty Nami, so call me Sakura."

"Yes Captain."

Sakura sighed, knowing she would only call her by her name when she felt it was apropiate, and that wasn't very often. "Come on Ino we're leaving."

"I'm coming just one more second!" Ino screamed back, finishing her last touch before darting out the door and grabbing some siletos for herself before pushing herself past Nami and Sakura.

Sakura shook her head to her exsitement and grabbed her keys before closing the door behind her. Ino was already standing at the end of the hall, tapping her foot against the floor. "Come on you two, hurry up already!"

"She's the one who was late," Nami muttered but walking towards her, Sakura following not far behind. '_Just get this over with._'

They finally reached The Broken Bottle, the scent of alcohol and sweat was thick in the air, almost making Sakura to gag of disgust. She really couldn't understand what her friends liked about this place, it was noisy, smelled horrible, and what was the fun of only drinking alcohol and get drunk? She stopped for the entrance, Ino and Nami already stepped in. Taking a deep breath and telling herself not to lose her control she walked in. Scanning the crowd she could already see Daisuke, Renge and Neji sitting in the booth not far from the entrance, walking towards her team mates, she could feel eyes following her every step. Sliding next to Neji she let out a sigh, glancing to the crowd to see some men still glancing at her before returning to their drinks and conversations. Her eyes slide over the bar towards the farest booth in the corner, her heart clenched uncomfortably when she noticed Naruto, Kakashi and Genma sitting there. Gritting her teeth she quickly let her gaze falter to her own table, Daisuke already talking with Ino while Nami smiled greetinly towards Renge and Neji.

"Welcome back Sakura, I haven't seen you in awhile." Her eyes met the lavender ones of Neji, who was watching her closely. Sakura smiled. "Ah, you're right Neji, it was quite some time ago when we last met."

"So how was your mission?" Neji asked only to start some conversation. He had only come to this meeting anyways to see Sakura again. His time with her on missions when she was still jounin was quite enjoyable, and being without her presence for some time made him want to grave himself to be in her presence once again. He was quite fond on her, one of the few friends he could relax and be himself with, talking to and ask for adive when he was in a dilemma he couldn't come out himself.

"Although I had some complications, it went well. The target is silenced and won't cause any trouble anymore."

"Glad to hear that. You made some of us worry when you didn't appear on time."

Sakura smirked, leaned in slightly, her shoulder touching Neji's left upper arm. "Does that include you Neji," Sakura purred teasingly. Neji tensed slightly and looked down at the pink haired woman pressed against his arm. Feeling a gaze falling on him he decided to test what the meaning was. He lifted up his arm and slides it around Sakura, pushing her against him. Feeling the glare on him he smirked, knowing that his suspisous was correct. He leaned down and placed his mouth near her ear. "Yes, it does includes me."

"You of all people should know better," Sakura said smiling, wondering why Neji was acting this way. "What are you doing?"

He nuzzled her neck, before glancing over her shoulder to the corner of the room, "They're watching us." Was his simple statement.

Sakura knew immdiately about he was talking about. Her eyes harded coldly, but vanished as quick as it came. "Even after I'm gone from their lives, they still wanting to control it," She hissed out langirly.

"Hmm, just ignore them Sakura, you've us now." Saura nodded and Neji leaned back to his place, his arm still over her shoulder. Nami smiled at them, Sakura always liked Neji and hoped that one day it would turn out for them. Seeing Daisuke glancing at them from time to time made her sigh in frustration, hoping that the protective side of him wouldn't come out. But Ino did a good job at disrecting him, he wasn't glaring at the man who offered her a drink already. She took the glass and glanced into the direction of the said man, smiling before taking a sip.

Renge however strained his ears to listen to the conversation Sakura and Neji were having. How did Neji know them to? Just what did to guys mean to her? Hearing his captain say that she was going to get something to drink for them he knew it was his chance to talk to Neji. Waiting for Sakura to be out of earshot he turned his attention towards the Hyuuga. "Say Neji-san, who are those man staring at captain?"

The lavender eyes turned towards him, making him feel slight uncomfortable. "Which ones do you mean, seeing many men staring at her, you must be more specfic," he stated, his voice smooth and calm like always. Renge narrowed his eyes slightly, he knew Neji was just playing with him, but he decided not to dwell on it. Otherwise captain would be back and he still wouldn't have his answers. "The men in the back, With the silver hair and the mask. Those men sitting there."

Neji smirked, knowing at what he was referring to. "Ah, so you finally caught up then huh? I'd wonder how long it would take you to find out."

"What do they mean to captain?"

"Nothing, well nothing anymore to be more presice."

"Huh, what do you mean?" Renge asked confused. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing the lone onxy eye fixed on Sakura. Even though he was sitting quite far from him, he could clearly see the hurt and shame in his eye. As if he had done something terrible and didn't know how to make it right.

"A long time ago they meant the world to her, but something happened to change that and now they mean nothing to her." Renge turned his head back, staring at Neji once again. "What happened?"

Neji wanted to answer, but a female voice answered instead. "Nothing what concerns you Renge, now stop digging into my past already," Sakura glared at him, the drink putting on the table with a not so gentle bang before sitting herself again next to Neji. His arm slide over her shoulder again, giving it a soft squeese to let her know he was sorry. "My apologies Sakura, I thought you would've told them."

"Don't worry about it, It's just I don't want to talk about them." Renge sighed inwardly relieved, he got out of this one for now. But atleast he knows now that something had happened between them, and to find out what he needed to do some investigation. maybe something would stand in her profile or Neji seems to know allot more. Grabbing the drink Sakura brought him and lifted it a bit up. He would let it rest for now then anyways, they were here to celebrate her return, not to make her angry. He coughed a little and gained everybody's attention from their table.

"We've missed you allot captain, nobody tormenting us for three weeks and another week since you were late was boring." Sakura snorted. " Welcome back dear Captain, we've missed you dearly."

"Welcome back Sakura," the table said in unison, raising their glasses before taking a sip. "Well only because you guys would have a terrible hangover tommorow, I can decide to go a little bit more soft on you, but that depends."

"On what?" Daisuke asked curiously.

"If you can out drink me," Sakura smiled devilishly and took another gulp of her drink before reefilling her glass. Renge groaned, that meant a hard trainning day then tommorow, since nobody can drink her out, she's the apprentice of the Hokage after all and she didn't only gained her abnormal strength but also the high alcohol tolerance.

"You're on!" Daisuke and Nami yelled before gulping their drinks down.

On the other side of the bar, one eye was fixed on the laughing pink haired woman. She really seemed happy, the way she laughed and talked to her friends. There was a time where he would sit right next to her and smiling at her comments. But no, that time was over. He wasn't the one who brought her back home after a late night, simply a stranger to her now. His heart ached at the unknown feeling making him wonder why it bothered him so much. It was their own fault that she walked away, so why did it hurt him so much. His eye narrowed, his grip around his drink thightens when Neji leaned in once again, whispering something into her ear. A strange feeling welled up in him. Making him to want to hit him, grabbing his my his neck and throw him away from her. Nobody was allowed to touch her in that way, even coming so close.

He already putted down his book and made the movements to stand up when a hand grabbed his arm. "Where do you think you're going?" Genma asked, looking slight confused to his drinking buddy. He was acting strange today, nothing like himself at all. He glanced into the direction his friend was looking at and noticed a certain person sitting there. _'Ah that's what wrong._'

"I have something to do." Kakashi answered, walking straight up towards Sakura's table. Genma only sighed, knowing that this wouldn't end well, but knowing Kakashi wouldn't listen to him, he couldn't do anything. He turned his attention to Naruto, who looked just as confused at Kakashi's actions.

"Hey kid, have you heard what happened in the academy today?" Genma asked, his senbon swirling to the other side of his mouth.

"Stop calling me that, and what happened?"

Meanwhile Kakashi reached Sakura's table, he nodded at her team and Ino before letting his eye rest on Sakura.

"Sakura, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"What do you want," Her voice was cold and harsh, it wasn't even a question but a statement. Neji felt her body stiffen, knowing that she didn't want to do this at all.

"I merely want to speak to you," Kakashi repeated, his eye fallen on the arm resting on her shoulder. Neji noticed it, and testing another theory and softly pulled her closer towards him, his eyes narrowing and tried to look a bit possesive. Like he proticted, Kakashi's hand twitched and if he wasn't wearing his mask, he would be sure to see a snarl on his lips.

"Can't you see I was already talking to her?" Neji interupted. Sakura tightened her grip on his leg before going back to her loose hold, letting him know that she was thankful for his interuption.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"And she doesn't want to talk to you, now leave so we can get further with our celebration."

Kakashi's eye narrowed dangerously. The table was already looking at him, waiting about what was going to happen. "If she wishes that, she can say it herself."

"I don't want to speak to you, now leave Hatake." She finally turned her head to look at him, her eyes dark and hatred dancing in them. It made his heart ache with agony knowing he was the cause of this.

He wanted to say something again when Sasuke bursted into the bar. His eyes narrowing at the sight of Neji with his arm over her shoulder and more importantly, Kakashi standing close to her. He marched up and layed his hand on his shoulder.

"Kakashi, we have a mission. We need to go to the Hokage tower immidaitely." Kakashi sulked inwardly. He didn't want a mission now, he wanted to get Sakura away from that Neji guy, wanting her to be part of his life once again.

"I'll speak to you later than Sakura," and with that he poofed away. Sasuke glanced at Sakura, seeing her hatred gaze already turned at him.

He hn'ed for a small greeting and goodbye to Neji before walking off towards his blonde team mate. He smacked him on his and grinned at the choking sound Naruto made.

"Teme! That wasn't funny!"

"We have a mission Dobe. We are needed at the Hokage tower."

"You didn't have to hit me."

"Hn." And with that he vanished also. Naruto growled, turning towards Genma who was already talking to another woman. He rolled his eyes at his friend behaviour before walking off, Genma wouldn't mind to pay the bills once again. He wondered what kind of mission would it be this time and started to run towards the Hokage tower.

**_To be continued..._**


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Here's the update then finally l) Sorry it took me so long. It's a short chapter my apologies. Thanks for the lovely reviews, It warms my heart to know that people really like my story :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 5:**

Tsunade wasn't in a very good mood, Shizune had hidden her sake again, there was a pile of missions reports to look through on her desk, the newly hired hospital staff weren't capable enough and needed to be retrained and worst off all, the team she was waiting for was late… again!

After 10 minutes of waiting, Sasuke came back into the office, arching his eyebrow when he didn't see any sign of Kakashi standing there, even though he had already left the bar before him. Not so long after that Naruto walked in, jumping up and down, excited to know what their new mission was. Finally after half an hour, Kakashi decided to poof in.

With a nonchalant wave of his hand and his familiar eye crinkle, he greeted the Hokage. Tsunade scowled at him. "You're late and my specific orders were to come here immediately," She hissed out angrily.

"My apologies, Hokage-sama. I came across an old lady and..."

"Save your pathetic lies for someone who will believe them Hatake! There's work to do," Tsunade cut him off. "A few hours ago I received this scroll from Hanaru of Suna." She grabbed said scroll from her desk and threw it at Kakashi, who caught it and let his gaze wander to the scroll now in his hands before turning his attention towards the blonde Hokage once again. "He's in charge of the Akatsuki investigation. It seems that the Akatsuki is on the move again. This time setting their eyes on a very important scroll in the Temple hidden behind the Waterfall. You know about which one I speak of," Tsunade quickly said, seeing the questioning look she received from Kakashi.

Kakashi's eye widened. If that was the case, no hidden village would be strong enough to stop the Akatsuki from getting their hold on the world. They would be unstoppable. That was the reason that the scroll was locked away in the first place, and if that came into the hands of their enemies especially someone as strong as the Akatsuki, they really would be in **big** trouble. He opened the scroll in his hands, his one visable eye following the lines before closing again. He sighed, yes it was indeed the scroll he'd thought it was. Tsunade's voice caught his attention again and he turned his head up to look at her.

"I want you to get to the temple before they do and destroy the scroll. It must **not** fall into the hands of the enemy. You've got two weeks to complete the mission. If you haven't completed the mission by then, I'll send back-up."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The group answered.

"Good, you leave first thing in the morning," Tsunade said, turning sideways and staring down at the village. "Dismissed."

* * *

The door of Sakura's bedroom swung open, hitting the wall with a loud bang. The pink haired ANBU captain marched inside, throwing her bag on her bed in total frustration. Her eyes were darkened with hatred and her mouth stood open in a snarl. How dare he?! How dare he march back into her life and order her to talk with him?! After four years of not talking to her and only ignoring her, he had the nerve to waltz back into her life and try to pull her back again as if nothing had ever happened. Her eyes darted to the top of her closet where a photo frame was standing, all alone. It was the one where she was eleven years old, smiling brightly at the camera while Kakashi leaned over her, his eye crinkled in his usual grin and Naruto and Sasuke on either side of her glaring daggers at each other as Kakashi's hand rested in their heads. Swinging with her left arm, she knocked the frame over, sending it flying towards the wall. The sound of glass breaking filled the air and a thud was heard. She didn't even know why she kept that stupid photo. Maybe in her subconscious she hoped that one day everything would be alright, but the way Kakashi spoke to her as if she had done something wrong made her furious.

A mop of blonde hair and blue eyes appeared in the doorway. Her eyes showed worry and her hands were slightly trembling. How could such a nice night out turn into a disaster in matter of seconds? Oh that's right you only needed to add three men from Sakura's past to screw it up completely. Sure she had seen Sakura angry before, but never like this. Her eyes looked to the broken glass and shattered wooden frame on the floor, widening when she noticed it was the frame where Sakura had kept the photo of her former team 7. Unconsciously she tightened her hold on Sakura's doorframe. The air inside her pink haired friend's room was bitterly cold and not very welcoming at all. She gulped nervously and looked to the back of Sakura. Only then did she see a small drop of blood trickling down Sakura's fist.

"Sakura?" She asked softly, her voice barely audible.

Sakura said nothing, but the slight turn of her head let Ino know that she had heard her.

"Are you alright?" Ino grabbed hold of all her courage and stepped away from the door, walking slowly towards her friend and stopping not too far behind her.

"I'm fine."

"You're hand is bleeding," Ino said softly trying to touch Sakura's wounded hand, but when her finger brushed against the skin, Sakura jerked her hand away and let her darkened green eyes fall on her.

"I said I'm fine," Sakura snarled angrily. "I don't need your pity!"

Ino stumbled backwards. Sure Sakura yelled at her from time to time, but not like this. It scared her terribly, it made her remember with who she was dealing with, not the soft and uncaring Sakura but the cold and feared ANBU captain. Her eyes showed fear of her friend, but her heart still screamed that she needed to help Sakura. Because Ino knew that deep down inside her best friend, there was still something left of the old Sakura. A part of her forever falling deeper and deeper in the black hole was filled with sorrow, screaming out for help and understanding.

"I only wanted to help."

"I don't need your help, now leave." Her voice was still harsh, but the angry edge in it was gone, and she didn't yell it at her. Looking to the emerald eyes, she saw the hurt and despair she knew was there, before it vanished into the dark depths again, her eyes becoming the hardened peridot jewels she was so used to seeing for the last few years. She understood that Sakura wanted to be alone, especially after what had happened this night. She couldn't really blame her though, she didn't know how it felt to lose hear team mates, hell she didn't even want to know. She walked towards the corner of the room and grabbed the picture of the old team 7. She would keep it safe for now, Sakura might destroy it in the rage she was in. Even though Sakura didn't know it nor want to acknowledge it, she still cared deeply for her former team. And when she was ready to let them in again, Ino would give the picture back, because if she destroyed it now, she might regret it later. Slipping the picture into her pocket she walked towards the door. Sakura still hadn't moved from her spot, her gaze on the wall before her.

"Just know that I'll be there for you whenever you need me Sakura." She told her, and with that she closed the door.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto were waiting at the gates, looking rather bored.

"He's late again! I got up at five to get here on time and that lazy ass hasn't shown up yet!" Naruto whined. Dropping his backpack with a soft thud on the floor, he sat down on the soiled ground.

"Hn." Came the usual grunt in reply. Naruto only rolled his eyes, letting them follow the road they were going to take.

After another half hour, Kakashi finally arrived, claiming that his alarm was broke and when he tried to get there a squirrel had gotten his precious book. He couldn't leave until he knew for sure that his book was safe and sound in his pocket so he could resume his way here.

"Liar!"

"Let's move already, we've wasted enough time as it is," Sasuke replied, not even acknowledging Kakashi and walking away.

"Hey! Wait up Teme!" Naruto yelled, jumping up and grabbing his backpack before racing after his rival and best friend.

Kakashi only sighed at their behaviour, turning his head towards the village with a silent goodbye. He couldn't help but wish that a certain pink haired girl was coming with them on this mission. Turning his head towards the road he took off, making a mental note and a promise to himself that he would do whatever it took to get Sakura back into their lives again.

Sasuke was in the lead position, smirking secretly. His plan was going perfectly and soon he would finally have his revenge for his clan. '_Only three more days and then I will finally have my revenge._'

_**To be continued...**_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry I updated so late. I had a little writersblock. But the exams are coming up and all so this will be the last update for the next three weeks. (I'm sorry please don't kill me).

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 6:**

The sun was setting when Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi finally stopped running. If everything went according to plan, they would arrive tomorrow at noon. Naruto walked away to gather wood for the fire while Kakashi began to set up traps for their safety. Sasuke however just dropped his pack on the ground and jumped up onto a tree branch letting him self rest comfortably against the bark.

His head was tilted slightly backwards, his eyes looking through the leaves towards the darkening sky. He had traveled for 4 days now which meant he was running late. Not that it was his fault, Naruto being the clumsly, knuckleheaded idiot he was, doing things like running straight into poisonous bushes. The poor guy had, had an allergic reaction, forcing them to slow down for a day. He only hoped that **they** were patient enough to wait one more day.

The soft muttering beneath him made him come out of his trance. Glancing down he saw Naruto throwing the wood on the ground. The blonde nin tilted his head up in Sasuke's direction, his bright blue eyes darkened a bit by the annoyance directed towards him.

"Couldn't you have at least started setting up the tents or even sorting out our dinner?" Naruto hissed.

Sasuke simply looked at him before turning his head back up to the sky again. There was a dull ache in settled in his heart, making him ponder his actions. But he quickly dismissed his hesitation, he had come so far already, only one more day until he could avenge his own clan. Even though Kakashi and Naruto had welcomed him back with open arms, it didn't stop the agony in his heart. The only thing making the pain less was the thought of killing his brother and surprisingly also the thought of the pink haired female, Sakura.

His eyebrows knitted together in frustration when he thought back to his former teammate. When he'd made the deal, he knew he could also bring Sakura with the group so she would be simply killed. But a strange feeling in his guts had told him to get her off the team so she would be safe. After hours, no days of wondering what that stupid feeling was, he finally reached the conclusion that…. He'd fallen in love with none other than Sakura Haruno. Not that that was weird in is eyes, thanks to the love she had claimed to feel for him for all those years and then the fact that she was the only female he ever got close to besides his mother and despite appearances he had become close to her, he'd protected her, she'd calmed him when he lost control of his curse mark that time, when he thought about it, it wasn't really a surprise. Thinking back to her appearance, the way she looked now, he felt his cheeks heat up a little. She was beautiful.

Only by putting a genjutsu on Kakashi and Naruto, and making them slowly forget the pink haired female, would she be safe. When she was pushed out of the team, she wouldn't be in any danger when he traded Kakashi and Naruto for his brother. She wouldn't have to witness another of his betrayals. When came back, drenched in the blood of his brother and saying that Kakashi and Naruto were killed in action he could finally go back to the woman he loved and she would accept him with open arms, mourning the loss of her teammates and falling for him all over again.

Ducking his head to avoid a rock that had been thrown at him he turned his glare down towards Naruto, once again pulled out of his thoughts.

"Stop daydreaming already Teme, dinner's ready."

Seeing the fire burn cozily and smelling the scent of instant ramen in the air let him know that indeed it was dinner time. He glanced one more time up at the sky, only to see that it had already fallen into darkness and the first stars were already starting to shine through.

Sasuke jumped from the tree, landing graciously next to Naruto. Walking towards his team leader, he grabbed the bowl that was held out to him before walking further away again and sitting on the opposite side of Naruto. He didn't notice the suspicious glances shared between his two team mates or he simply didn't acknowledge it. Either way he slowly started to eat, keeping in mind that it wouldn't be to long before he would face his brother again.

When they had finished their dinner, Sasuke went to his tent, wanting to sleep in peace. Naruto went off to do the dishes before he too turned into his tent and sleeping bag. Kakashi took over the first watch, claiming he wasn't that tired.

While he watched his former students go to sleep, Kakashi sighed inwardly before turning his head up towards the sky. It was a cloudless night, the stars glittered brightly in the night sky, the cold breeze of the wind, that was cool but not to cold made it a perfect night. When he gazed at the moon he couldn't help but picture the pink haired female before his eyes. Her laughing face when she swatted him playfully on his shoulder, the feeling of her chakra racing through his veins when she healed him time and time again. He wondered when he had started to push her away, he couldn't really remember why he'd done it. It was just like they'd awoke one day she was simply gone from their lives, and what bothered him the most was that he had let it happen.

While he could only watch when Sasuke had left the village for more power and then Naruto being taken under Jiraiya's wing he'd felt hopeless, like he'd failed them all. But Sakura had stayed, even though she moved on to train under the 5th Hokage, which was partly his fault since he hadn't really paid attention to her training when she was under his care, she still visited him from time to time. Simply meeting at Ichiraku's, eating a bowl of ramen while they talked about her training progress or sometimes he even went to the training field to watch her train. He couldn't help but feel that he had failed her too. Why he couldn't he have seen her potential? Her perfect chakra control, her concentration, her determination all of them making her a perfect medic.

That day he'd sworn to never fail her again. But it seems he had broken that promise to both her and of course to himself, the evidence of that fact was clear, since the pink haired kunoichi wasn't here with them on this mission. Guilt filled his senses, tearing his eyes away from the moon when he couldn't handle it anymore. When did it get so out of hand? Why didn't he do anything to stop that friendship from breaking? The warm, gentle and kind Sakura was now a stranger to them and they mere strangers to her, nothing precious. The sensitive and ever caring girl they had all once known gone from their lives as if she were a passing breeze, a flight of fancy they had once cherished and now lost.

The sound of Naruto turning in his sleeping bag pulled him out of his thoughts and he watched the blonde murmur softly in his sleep before he was fast asleep again. A small smile tugged on his lips, how those three had broken through his defenses was beyond him, but he was glad they had. Although he was a little bit closer to Sakura at those times and even though it didn't last, he held them close to his heart, hoping that one day it those times would happen again.

When it was time for the second watch he woke Sasuke up, waiting for him to be on full alert before he walked off towards his own sleeping bag. He stayed awake for a few moments before slowly sleep began to claim him and soon after that he fell into a deep slumber.

Sasuke was on guard for two hours before a familiar chakra signal appeared in the clearing, swiftly followed by two more. Jerking his head up, sharingan already blazing in his eyes, he turned his head in the direction it emanated from. So it seemed that they didn't have patience after all. He sighed, inwardly relieved to know that this would be over soon. Pushing the guilt away he glanced at his team mates one more time. Standing up he leapt into the trees, deciding to meet the newly arrived 'guests'.

He didn't have to travel long though, for it seemed that they had already passed Kakashi's traps. He stopped before them shortly, waiting for them to come to him. A female was revealed first as she stepped into the moonlight, long enough for Sasuke to let him know that she had short blue hair, a blue rose attached behind one ear. She was quickly followed by two males, one with short red hair and piercings through his nose and ears, the last one to step into the light had black hair and his face was hidden behind an orange mask, all three of them wearing the familiar black cloaks with red clouds on it. For a moment they stared at each other, the silence between them was deafening and made Sasuke slightly uncomfortable. Finally the female cleared her throat and started to speak.

"You're late Uchiha."

"My apologies, we met with some complications along the way."

"Hmpf." The blue haired girl replied, crossing her arms across her chest.

"It surprises Tobi to see that you went through with our deal," The man with the orange mask spoke next. "Tobi thought they were your friends."

"Hn. You thought wrong. Now where's Itachi? I made good on my part of the deal, now it's your turn."

"Foolish little brother. Do you really think they would just hand me over to you?" A voice sounded from behind Sasuke.

The raven's eyes widened with shock. He turned around abruptly and looked straight into the cold eyes of his older brother, Itachi Uchiha. His mouth turned into a snarl while he spat his brother's name out with pure venom. He lurched at his brother, only to be shoved hard into the ground. The female walked forwards and kneeled down beside Sasuke, her mouth close to his ear.

"You stupid fool, did you really think we would betray a friend of ours?" She laughed softly into his ear, her finger softly striking the back of his neck. "We're criminals after all, and we have a habit of breaking deals when they're not so important, or when we have what we want."

Sasuke growled angrily, how could he have been such a fool? He was an Uchiha for goodness sake! That only left one more option, his eyes darted towards the trap Kakashi had set hours ago. With his mind made up, he threw a senbon before anyone could react to it at the trap. As it hit the alarm went off. While Sasuke was thrown hard into a tree, he smirked triumphantly as the woman glared daggers at him.

"Great now we have to use some effort to bring them down."

"Don't worry Konan, they wouldn't be that hard." The red haired suddenly said. He turned his gaze towards the other Uchiha. He nodded his head at him before settling his attention on Sasuke. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Itachi vanish from the area, knowing that he had received his order.

"You seem to be persistent Uchiha. If you hinder our goal again we won't hesitate to kill you."

"Then it seems you will have to kill me, but that would be unlikely," Sasuke stated before he too vanished, only to reappear behind him, his katana already in his hand, and directed towards Pein's throat.

"Have it your way then."

Kakashi sat up alarmed when his trap went off. Looking around bewildered he only saw Naruto at their camping site but their dark haired team mate was gone. His heart started to race and he quickly stood up. Sliding his headband up, he revealed his sharingan. Scanning the surrounding area he couldn't find a sign of Sasuke anywhere. He panicked a little and turned his head, only to see that Naruto had also vanished from his side.

"You failed them all Kakashi. First your father, then your team, your sensei and now you've failed your genin team. It's your entire fault Copy Nin."

"No," Kakashi whispered to himself. "I won't fail them. I'd rather die than fail them."

"Your wish will be coming sooner then you think."

The area started to fade and darkness surrounded him before the sky brightened up red, and none other than Itachi Uchiha appeared a few feet before him. Realizing he was caught in a genjutsu he tried to cut off his chakra flow. Knitting his eyebrows together he concentrated deeply, whispering softly release. Opening his eyes he was back in their camping area, but it shocked him to see that Sasuke was being held by an orange masked man, his eyes dazed as if he was trapped in a genjutsu. Naruto had already released his Kyuubi chakra and was currently fighting with a red haired man and a blue haired female. And before him was no other than **the** Itachi Uchiha, smirking at him.

Getting himself into a fighting stance, he calculated their odds of survival, which were sadly slim to none. They were outnumbered by S-class criminals, the most dangerous missing nin and all of them a part of the Akatsuki organization. Dodging a kunai that was aimed at his heart he leapt away, his hands running over a couple of seal's, before he stood still and aimed his ninjutsu at the enemy. "Ninja art, Fire style, Fire dragon jutsu!" He said taking a big gulp of air, before blowing it with all his might towards the enemy.

While the jutsu was still making it's way towards the enemy, he blinked at the other side of the clearing, behind the orange masked man, his hands formed another set of seals before Rikari was created in his hand. Launching himself towards the Akatsuki member he went straight through. His eyes widened in confusion and the silver haired jounin jumped up into the air while several kunai were thrown at him. He wasn't fast enough though, for when the kunai hit the ground under him, they blew up and with the force of the explosion he was thrown high into the air.

His back crashed into a rock as he landed heavily. Ignoring the stinging pain he tried to get up, but a hand grabbed his collar, making his eyes open in surprise but too late he realized his mistake when he looked straight into the mangekyou sharingan. The sound of the fighting was lost to his ears and the last thing he saw was the red blazing eyes before he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

Sakura was lying on a simple roof, enjoying the warmth of the sun shining down upon her. Beneath her she could hear the footsteps of the civilians and shinobi of her village, making their way towards their work, shopping or simply doing as she was and enjoying the good weather. The yelling of the sales man calling out the greatness of their products, along with the laughter of children made her feel at peace, and was not bothering her in any way. Nothing could ruin her good day, her team was fighting flawlessly, making her very proud of them, the weather was good and above all she hadn't seen **them** for a week now. She guessed they had been sent on a mission and she wanted to enjoy the time without them while she could. She was even getting soft on her team at training once because it was so hot.

A soft thud was heard and footsteps made their way towards her. Opening her eyes when a shadow fell over her, her jade gaze followed the shinobi sandles, up to the wrapped legs and jounin pants, then to the jounin vest. Letting her gaze walk further upwards she noticed the senbon dangling between the males lips followed by two brown-colored eyes.

"What brings you here Genma?" Sakura questioned, closing her eyes again and letting her head rest in the palm of her hands.

"Can't I visit a beautiful blossom for once?" Genma smirked, glancing down at her and letting his eyes wonder over her feminine curves and features before turning his gaze to her face.

"I've rejected you so many times that I've lost count, why do you think I would date you now?" Sakura simply stated, locking her emerald eyes with the brown colored ones.

"Hey it never hurts to try," Genma shrugged, placing his hands into his pants pockets. "The Hokage wants to meet you and your team in her office immediately."

Sakura said nothing, simply getting up and stretching herself, giving Genma an eyeful before turning back to her normal appearance. "Anything else?" Genma shook his head and started to turn away. "No, unless you want to go on a date with me when you're back from what ever Tsunade-sama needs you for." He grinned slightly.

Sakura snorted. "Nice try but not going to happen." The next moment she vanished from sight in a swirl of petals leaving Genma behind alone.

* * *

Tsunade was biting her nails while she waited for Sakura's team to arrive. Today when she'd checked the paper it seemed that she had won a bet. Checking it twice and noting she had indeed won the jackpot, a nasty feeling began creeping up on her. Sometime bad was going to happen and she knew it, she never won unless something was wrong. Checking every file she'd reached a worrying conclusion. Scowling to herself and wondering why the hell she hadn't noticed it before. The scroll she had sent Team Kakashi on a mission to destroy, was already destroyed 4 years ago. She must have been extremely drunk was the only conclusion that could be reached.

She had immediately sent Shizune to the message tower to send a message to the Kazekage, telling him that there was a traitor within his ranks and had then ordered Genma to summon Sakura's team. She knew with them on the case that this bad luck hopefully be remedied. Seeing that Sakura's team was the only one available with the right qualities to handle it, and hopeful that this would possibly be the change for Sakura to set things straight with her former team mates, or just possibly when she came back, she would skin her alive, that one was the most likely. But it was for the girl's own good, the empty shelled version was good for missions but it wasn't real Sakura, the one they all knew and loved. It was time for her former apprentice to face her demons from her past and become the girl she should still be.

It was up to her if she would forgive them or not, and now that she had no choice but to spend time with them, and keep them safe maybe during the time. It was the only thing Tsunade could think of to help her. Turning around when the door opened, she saw Sakura stepping in, who was then followed by Shizune, Renge, Daisuke and Nami.

"You summoned us Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, I have a retrieval mission for you guys. S-ranked." Grabbing the scroll from her desk she handed it over to Sakura. Her teammates already moving to look over her shoulder and get a look at the information. Tsunade sucked in her breath when Sakura opened the scroll, seeing the look on her face change from peace to confusion to anger in a matter of seconds. Her grip tightened on the scroll and her mouth turned into a thin line.

**Mission**

**#2174**

**S-ranked**

_Recipients_

_Leader: _

_Sakura Haruno_

_Team members:_

_Nami Liang_

_Daisuke Hideaki _  
_Renge Shouinkei_

_Subject_

_Retrival Mission_

_Main objective:_

_Bring Team Kakashi safely home_

_Secondary Objective_

_Kill anyone who gets in your __way if you deem fit._

Sakura turned her gaze from the mission scroll towards her former mentor, her eyes glaring daggers. The tone she used with the next sentence shocked everybody in the room. Never had anybody heard her use a tone with such despise and loathing in her voice.

"No, I refuse this mission."

**_To be continued..._ **


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Heya guys! Well, my exams are going quite well so I found some time to write. When my next update is I don't know but you will find out yourselves when I do ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 7:**

"_Everbody is dismissed," Tsunade said softly, trying to hold in the irritation that was radiating off her. "Everyone but you." _

_She locked her honey coloured eyes with the emerald ones before her, those ones who looked coldly back, not stepping back from the look Tsunade was giving her. Sakura's team left quickly, giving their captain a confused look when they passed before closing the door behind her._

_Sakura said nothing, still staring hard and cold towards her former Shishou. Her hands were still gripping the scroll hard, as if she wanted to break it before throwing it away, and never have to look at the blasted paper again._

_Tsunade sighed and shifted her eyes away from her former apprentice while rubbing her temples. She'd known Sakura was going to play hard to get, but that tone she'd used had almost made her wince. Silence filled the room, the tension was clearly evident, the air almost crackling in anticipation, almost enough to make making you whimper in fear and want to get out as soon as possible. Finally Tsunade looked up again._

"_You're going."_

"_I refuse."_

"_You might hate them Sakura, but they're still your former team mates. They care about you." _

"_If they cared about me, I haven't seen any evidence of it."_

"_If you were captured they would rescue you in a heart beat. Why can't you do the same?"_

"_Because they left me!" Sakura yelled out furiously. She slammed her hands against the desk ,making it buckle a little under her use of force while she looked straight into Tsunade's eyes._

"_Where were they when I nearly died on my first solo mission? Where were they when I became jounin? Where were they when my father was killed by Akatsuki? Where…" Sakura stopped abruptly, pulling herself away from the desk, her hands clenched at her sides while she bit her lip to control her anger. Her eyes were already shining from the unshed tears building up within them. The pain and betrayal she'd felt when she was left alone by the three people who meant the world to her bubbling up to the surface once more._

_Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes briefly before looking up again. All emotion was blocked once again and the dark and cold look reappeared in her eyes. "No, I don't care for them anymore."_

"_Can you at least retrieve them?"_

"_Can't you send another team?"_

"_Your team is the only one who can do this. Please Sakura, if you don't want to do it for them do it at least for the village, for me. You know how much those three mean to the village."_

_Sakura gritted her teeth. "Fine, what is our due date?" _

"_There is no time frame, but complete it as soon as possible."_

_Sakura bowed stiffly, muttering 'Hai Hokage-sama' under her breath before walking away. Opening the door she heard a soft thud and looked down to see Renge lying at her feet. She raised an eyebrow and darted her eyes towards the other two who were sitting on the couch opposite of the door. _

_Nami fiddled with her fingers, a blush was staining her cheeks and her eyes were lowered towards the floor, not daring to look her captain into the eye. Daisuke was sitting next to her, his body was tense and the fear and shame he showed in his eyes when he looked at her, it was as if he did something he wished he hadn't done._

_Tilting her head to the left she looked at Renge who was dusting himself off, his head red with shame and he stumbled backwards, not daring to look into her eyes. Sakura closed the door behind her and crossed her arms over her chest. Clearly they had listened to her conversation with Tsunade._

_All three tensed when her hard voice was heard, a voice that was colder than usual. "Debriefing in an hour, ANBU-headquarters." With that said Sakura disappeared in a swirl of petals._

Sakura sighed, that was 2 days ago now. Shivering slightly she pulled her travelling cloak tighter around her, the evening breeze was quite cold for a summer night. Turning her head slightly left and downwards, she looked at her sleeping team mates. They really had lost some of her trust when she found them in the hallway, but on the other hand she couldn't blame them really, they knew nothing about her after all. But they should have honoured her decision in not telling them her past. She would have told them eventually when she was ready. But what's done is done and they knew now, a part of it at least.

Hearing a branch crack under the weight of something, she yanked her head back up, her hand already sliding towards the hilt of her katana. Her eyes darted to the direction where the sound had come from. Narrowing her eyes she slowly stood up, her hand holding the hilt of her katana. She concentrated on the chakra signatures around but she only felt the ones of her team mates beneath her.

Jumping to the next tree branch soundlessly she tilted her head downwards, only to see a little fox running towards the bushes. Sakura sighed relieved, letting go of her katana and straightened up. Glancing around one more time to make sure no one was there, she went back to her security post.

--

Kakashi stirred, feeling ropes wrapped around his wrists quite painfully. His head was throbbing like hell and all he wanted was some aspirin and a soft bed, somewhere to sleep this headache away. A cold breeze reached the uncovered part of his face, and the grass he was lying upon tickled his uncovered flesh. The coppery scent of blood was thick in the air, almost making him want to gag. Further he smelled the smell of cocked fish hanging in the air, and the soft crackle of the fire answered his unasked question.

He opened his eye carefully, wanting to know where his team mates were. A blond mop of hair reached his line of sight, and blinking once he noticed it was Naruto lying beside him. His clothes were torn and deep gashes were clearly able to be seen on his chest. His eyes were still closed. He turned his head slightly to search for the other one and found him bound to a tree not far from them but near the fire. A few bruises where to be seen but that was all, it seemed as if they didn't want to hurt him but his eye widened when he saw who was sitting beside the tree. None other than the missing nin, Itachi Uchiha was sitting next to him and it seemed they were engaged in a conversation. He wondered what it was, but the look in Sasuke's eyes was what made him confused the most. He wasn't look with hatred and murder towards his brother, but there was hurt and even understanding. What the hell had happened?

A red head joined them sitting beside Itachi and talked further. He tensed slightly when a woman's voice filled the air. "So you're awake then huh?" He darted his onyx eye up, looking to the woman who was standing above him, who was returning the gaze only she was looking down on him sceptically. Her hands were placed on her waist while her blue hair fell down her face, almost reaching her shoulder.

"How does it feel to be betrayed once again?" She asked, smiling secretly. She crouched down and let her chin rest upon her palm. Kakashi gave her a confused look. What was she talking about? He wasn't betrayed. Had she been hit in the head or something? He looked into her eyes and saw the playful glint in them. She seemed to enjoy his inner turmoil when he tried to figure out what she meant.

"How do you think we found you? Don't you wonder why you two were placed here while Sasuke is somewhere else." Her smile reduced to a smirk as she leaned down to whisper something in his ear. "Did you really think Sasuke would return to you pathetic village?" She snorted. "Once an avenger, always an avenger." She laughed softly and pulled back to look into his face.

"No," Kakashi croaked. "He wouldn't do that. Not to Naruto."

Konan smirked and leaned bit aback. "Then why did he made a deal with us? He would deliver you two if he got his brother. He's a fool though, for thinking ever that we would hand one of our strongest members to him."

Konan got up and walked away smirking, all the time knowing that she'd done a good job. The confused look and the glint of hurt in Kakashi's eye had made her day. Not that she regretted her action, it was quite boring the last couple of hours and she wanted some entertainment. Sitting down next to Tobi, she grabbed her bowl of dinner before she started to eat, smiling satisfied.

--

The next morning they packed up, eating a small breakfast Nami prepared before going back on track. Sakura out in front, followed by Nami and Renge and bringing up the rear Daisuke. Hopping from tree branch to tree branch, Sakura searched for any signs that could lead them towards Team Kakashi.

They were almost a day away from the Fire temple when Sakura halted abruptly, making Nami almost collapse on her back.

"What's wrong?" Nami asked looking around for something that could have made her Captain stop.

Sakura didn't reply but jumped off the tree branch she was standing on, back to the soiled ground. She carefully walked towards the tree before them, only to crouch down as if she were examine something.

Daisuke was confused. What the hell was she doing? The target had a week ahead of them and if they stopped now it would only make them fall back more. Jumping down himself he walked towards the tree himself.

"Captain there is no time to…"

"Don't!" She growled, but it was already to late.

Daisuke's feet touched the wire, setting off the trap. Daisuke stood frozen, wanting to hit his head against the bark of the nearest tree. Seconds later, kunai's flew towards them but before they could hit Daisuke, Sakura jumped in front of him, blocking every kunai.

When she was done, she put her katana back in its sheath, turning her head to look at Daisuke with a disapproving glare.

"Sorry," was all he could manage.

"That was one of Kakashi's traps, almost undetectable but for those ones who know him longer enough they're easy to spot. We're close." Sakura said, turning her back on her team and walking further.

"Stay behind me and walk in my steps, we don't want to set off more traps now do we?"

"No Captain, of course not."

While Sakura was walking in front again, something was nagging at her. Why were his traps still active? It could be that they were still there. But if so, one of his dogs or even Naruto or Sasuke or even himself would have shown up by now. So why was it still active when they clearly weren't there anymore. It wasn't something he'd ever forget about, Kakashi didn't forget and that really only left one option…. Something must have happened.

Unconsciously she picked up her pace, pushing the low hanging tree branches and leaves away in her haste. Not minutes later she stopped once again, her eyes wide, looking at the area before them. Tree trunks were lying on the ground, soil still clinging to the roots, craters in the ground, burn marks from fire jutsu's scorched the ground and broken branches littered the area. Put simply, a big fight had happened here.

"What the…" Renge said, coming into the clearing himself. His eyes darted over the area. The soft gasp from Nami made it clear she had also arrived. Daisuke said nothing, but the widening of his eyes made his reaction clear enough.

"Search for clues, anything to take us further." Sakura said before walking off towards one of the many craters in the ground.

"Yes Captain."

Kneeling down to the ground, she put her gloved hand on the ground, feeling the nine tailed fox's chakra slowly radiating off of it. _'What made you lose control Naruto?'_ Sakura thought, slowly getting up again. _'Something really bad must have happened. Otherwise you wouldn't lose your control.' _

"Captain come look at this!" Nami yelled on the other side of the clearing. Sakura looked up and turned her head towards the sound of Nami's yelling. Turning herself around sharply she walked towards her red haired team mate, avoiding walking on anything that could possibly help them further.

"What is it Nami?" Sakura asked, stopping beside her.

"The crack on this stone and the blood stains around it, somebody is badly hurt."

Following Nami's pointing finger, she indeed saw dried blood on the stone. But the question was, who's blood was it? The enemy or somebody on their side?

Sakura pulled off her right ANBU arm protector and glove she placed her now bare hand on the blood stain. Concentrating some chakra in it, her eyes widened softly when she found out who's blood it was. "It's… Kakashi's."

Standing up quickly she let her eyes fall over the area once again. This was bad, really bad. She might hate her former team badly, but that didn't mean she didn't know anything about them. She knew how strong all three of them were when together, so the ones ambushing them must have been really highly skilled, at least S-class to get the three of them down and to make Kakashi bleed like that? Almost unheard of.

Putting her long glove and protector back on she turned towards Nami. "We need to hurry, they're injured and I don't know how badly hurt they are." Nami nodded in understanding, and smiled inwardly when she saw the approving nod from Sakura, her hand touching her shoulder for a moment before Sakura drew it back again, walking past her.

An hour later they gathered together, Sakura standing with her arms crossed, Nami sitting on the fallen tree-trunk while Daisuke leaned against it. Renge stood beside Sakura, his eyebrows knitted together while he was lost in his thoughts.

"Well what have you guys found?"

"Well nothing more after the blood stain I showed you," Nami replied, a hint of disappointment evident in her voice. She hated it when she couldn't do anything more. Her hand reached up to her red hair to pull the strands that fell before her mask away.

"I've found nothing but these holes in the ground and some kunai who belonged to our side. Nothing more sadly." Daisuke said on his turn when Nami fell silent.

Sakura nodded once, turning her head to look at her strategist who was still deep in thought. "What about you Renge?"

His hand reached to his back pocket, pulling out a piece of black cloth, decorated with something red, something that had a white line around it. Sakura's team looked at it confused, never having seen that kind of cloth before, but Sakura narrowed her eyes. It was something she remembered all right, something she remembered all to well in fact. It was from the fight long ago, one when she was still part of the team, the one where she'd almost died and would have if it hadn't have been for the help of the grandmother of the one they were fighting. The guy she had been fighting wore the same piece of cloth Renge had now in his hands. A black long cloak decorated with red clouds with white lines surrounding it.

Seeing the narrowing of Sakura's eyes, Renge knew that she had recognized the piece of cloth. It seemed that Nami and Daisuke had noticed it too, and they all turned their heads towards their captain, holding in their breath while waiting patiently for her to explain what she knew about it. Renge hold out his hand towards Sakura, giving the black piece of material to her. Holding it with both hands, she held it up before her face. Seeing the clear red cloud with white lines surrounding it, she sighed deeply. Crumbling the piece of cloth into her left fist, she pushed her mask with her other hand of her face to the side.

Nami's eyes widened slightly at her action. Sure she had seen Sakura's face before. But not like this. The worried frown on her lips while she pursued them together wasn't a good sign. Sure Sakura had been worried before when they faced grave danger but never this bad. If it made Sakura act like this, so worried and nervous, it was bad, really bad. And if Sakura was nervous, she was nervous, maybe even a little frightened.

"Do you know them Captain?" Renge asked.

"Yeah, I know them quite well actually." Sakura started. "I fought them back when I was younger, almost got killed when I killed one of them."

With that kind of news it only made Namis' worries bigger. If they almost killed Sakura, the infamous Pink Illusion, what did that mean? Just how strong were those guys? She gulped unconsciously.

"The people who wear those cloaks are part of a organisation called Akatsuki. I don't know much about them only that their dangerous missing nin, at least S-ranked, maybe even higher. They are **not** tobe taken lightly, if you underestimate them, you **won't** live to regret it or rectify it. Don't drop your guard at any time."

"Yes Captain."

Sakura turned around, kneeling down as she did so. Grabbing a scroll from her pocket she quickly wrote something down. When she was done, she bit her thumb, mumbling something before pressing it on the ground before her. A small slug appeared the moment she pulled her hand back.

"I want you to bring this scroll to Tsunade." Sakura said while binding the scroll onto the slug's back. The slug nodded, before disappearing in a poof smoke once again.

"So what are we going to do now?" Nami asked, looking from the light brown/blonde team mate in front of her to her pink haired captain who was standing back up.

Putting her mask back in place she stretched her back. "We're going to chase them of course. Since they have to carry three captives, they'll be slow. Not to mention one of them is hurt."

"How are we going to do that?"

"By tracking them of course," Sakura said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Seeing the broken branches heading in the southerly direction she knew which way she needed to go to next. Making sure that her mask was back in it's place and that they had everything they needed she turned her face towards her team. A smirk was placed on her lips and even though it was hidden behind her mask, her team shivered unconsciously when they saw the wicked glint in her emerald eyes. The glint she always got when things got serious, when she finally got a challenge she'd longed for so long.

"I hope you guys aren't tired because we're going out hunting." She chuckled while she jumped up the fallen tree, her feet landing close by Daisuke's head before pushing herself up to leap into the trees.

"Ugh, this is going to be torture, isn't it?" Daisuke whined, turning around. Ready to jump after their leader.

Nami was already up and jumping after their captain. Renge shrugged. "Don't be such a whiner baby. We've got business to do," Renge sighed annoyed before leaping up into the trees.

Daisuke choked, turning his head towards the dark blonde/brown haired team mate. His mouth turned into a scowl. "What did you say?! Watch out you don't break any branches you oaf!" Daisuke yelled while jumping after his team mates.

**_To be continued..._**


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Here he is then finally, the long waited chappie where Sakura finally comes in action ^^. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 8:**

The next time Kakashi awoke, he felt movement beneath him, wind whipping through his hair and an arm around his waist. Cracking open an eye, he could see the ground coming closer before moving away from it again, a tree branch came into his view and the motion repeated itself over and over.

'_Looks like we're on the move again,'_ Kakashi mussed. His head was feeling a little better, but the nausea didn't go away, and the dried blood on his skin was pulling and catching on it. The body beneath him shifted, only to stop moments afterwards.

"What's wrong?" A female voice asked confused.

"Tobi feels that somebody is following us."

"All the more the reason to hurry the hell up," Konan scowled.

This time Pein also joined in the conversation. "If we do that, we will lead them straight to our lair." He turned to look at Itachi, giving him a silent order to take care of it.

Itachi sighed, handing his little brother to Konan to carry him further before taking off. All that Kakashi could see was a split second glance of his face, but it was long enough for him. Why did he looked so sad but annoyed? What happened last night between him and Sasuke? Speaking of Sasuke, was what the blue haired girl said true? **Had** he betrayed them once again? Could he still be trusted? Seeing Itachi disappear into the woods behind them, he could only hope that the people he was going after would be okay.

---

The last few days Sakura had only let her team rest for a few hours before taking off again. But if they were to confront the enemy who had captured their friends, they would need a whole lot more sleep than that. Well her team would anyway, she on the other hand could go four days without sleep and the soldier pills in her pocket were helpful too.

Finally after a few days of little rest, they'd finally caught up to them. In the distance she could feel the faint chakra signatures of her former sensei, Naruto, Sasuke and four others. One she recognized immediately, Sasuke's older brother… Itachi! But the other three she had no clue who they were nor what were their special abilities.

Already trying to create a plan in her mind she noticed that their quarry had stopped briefly, only to leave a few moments after but one thing was for sure. The one she had recognized was coming their way. '_So they've finally noticed us,_' Sakura thought smirking. Picking up her pace she leapt on to a tree branch to gain higher ground.

Daisuke noticed a small chance in his captain's chakra signature before it returned to normal again. She came back down to the normal heights they were jumping at and she seemed a bit different. He shrugged it off, thinking it was just his imagination, he hadn't slept well the last few days and so just presumed he was seeing things or rather feeling things that weren't there. Looking at his team mates before them, he could see that Nami was a little tired, her jumping wasn't so fierce and flawless as it used to be and Renge's breathing was a tad quicker than normal. Not that he could blame them, he was a little tired himself. He suddenly narrowed his eyes when he felt a chakra signature coming their way.

"Captain, somebody is coming towards us," Daisuke spoke up.

"I know," was the only reply back.

Sakura squinted her eyes to look through the dense forest, and ahead of them she could make out a small figure with a black cloak on coming their way. They would meet each other in a few minutes she guessed. Looking over her shoulder she glanced at her team. Even though they looked a tad tired, they could handle this, she hoped. If they remembered everything she taught them about teamwork and how to look for the weakest spot, they could manage.

"The one we're going to meet is a genjutsu specialist. Don't look him in the eye or at his hand."

"Yes, captain."

The moment Sakura was close enough, Itachi threw a fireball at them. Sakura dodged it by dropping herself to a lower branch. Her hand grabbed a kunai out her pouch and threw it at him, making him move from his spot.

Renge was kneeled on a tree branch, his bow in his hands and his hand creating a thin line of chakra, following Itachi's every move, he let the thin line of chakra go the moment he stopped. It scratched the missing nin's cheek and when Itachi looked up to the spot it had come from, Renge was already gone, up and moving to the next spot to get a clear view of him.

Daisuke dodge a shuriken aimed for his head, jumping to the tree branch Itachi was standing on and he tried to kick him. Itachi dodged his attack, grabbing the leg Daisuke was standing on and pulling it off the branch. While Daisuke fell backwards, his hand grabbed the branch swinging around it and leapt up, kicking Itachi in the face. Letting himself fall down to the lower tree branch, he jumped after Itachi who was already up and dodging the shuriken Nami threw at him.

Nami jumped towards him, but didn't count on the fireball now heading her way. Slightly panicking at the action she suddenly felt an arm around her waist, pulling her to the tree left of her. She was placed on the tree branch, the arm already leaving her body and the figure charging towards the enemy, she could only see a flash of pink, enough to know it was her captain whom had saved her life.

Sakura dropped down on the ground, dodging the fire dragon aimed at her before pushing chakra in her feet and knocking straight into Itachi. Both tumbled on the ground, rolling a few yards before they stopped. Itachi lay on the ground and with a burst of energy he kicked Sakura off of him.

Getting up himself, he saw the red haired girl charging at him. He smirked, how could she be so stupid? Waiting patiently for her to come to him, he dodged her fist while his hand grabbed a kunai. Turning around to face his attacker, he tried to stab the woman now in front of him. But when he looked up, he saw that he had stabbed somebody else instead.

Sakura stood in front of her team mate, blocking Nami's body with her own to avoid her getting hit.

"Captain!" Nami yelled shocked.

Blood began trickling down the side of her mouth, and softly Sakura started to laugh. She disappeared in a poof smoke, letting them know it was a clone and before anyone could react, a katana was pushed against Itachi's throat, his hands being held by the free hand of Sakura.

"Don't move." Sakura said coldly, pushing the side of her katana deeper into his flesh, her action drawing a tiny amount of blood.

Nami sighed in relief, her captain was alright. She looked up to her left when she felt a hand touching her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" Daisuke asked glancing her over for any injuries. "Yes, I'm fine. Captain's clone took the hit. Accepting the answer, he let go of her shoulder and straightened up.

"Where are they taking them?"

Her question was met with silence. He was keeping silent and stoic as ever, standing perfectly still. Sakura waited for a few minutes, slowly losing her patience. "I'll ask you one more time, where are they taking them?" Still, Itachi didn't answer.

"Fine, you're no use to me then." Sakura tightened her hold on her katana, with a flawless movement, she slit Itachi's throat. She moved her katana away, releasing his hands and turned around, wiping the blood off her katana while Itachi's body fell to the floor. When the blood stains were removed, she slid her katana back in its saya. "We're leaving."

Quickly checking that her team was alright, she leapt back into the trees, her team following close behind. But this time Renge jumped next to her. They remained silent for a while before Renge decided to speak up. "I think I have a plan."

"Good, that's what your job is." Sakura replied dryly.

Renge ignored the comment and continued on explaining the plan towards Sakura. When he was done, Sakura was nodding approvingly. Stopping shortly, she explained it to the rest of the team. When she was done, Daisuke let out a short laugh. "Next treat in The Broken Bottle is on you captain for making me do this."

Nami snickered while watching Daisuke transforming into the person Sakura asked him too. "I like this side of you Daisuke," she purred teasingly into his ear before taking off with Renge, leaving Sakura and Daisuke behind.

Daisuke scowled, his heated glare watching his team mates disappear into the woods. "Stop whining and get going, otherwise we won't make it before dark." Daisuke turned his head, nearly jumping when he saw that Sakura had already taken her form and the voice she was speaking with, he couldn't recognize at all. He sighed softly while seeing Sakura already taking off and quickly he followed her lead.

---

It was already shimmering when they stopped travelling. Pein dropped Naruto by a tree before taking off into the forest, Tobi dropped Kakashi very close to the blonde knucklehead before stretching his arm.

"Tobi thinks you're pretty heavy. Tobi's shoulder is itching now because of you," Tobi whined, rubbing with his other hand over his shoulder soothingly. Konan only rolled her eyes, dropping Sasuke next to Tobi before disappearing into the forest herself.

Kakashi didn't know how long it was, but it felt like an eternity before they blue haired girl and red haired guy finally came back. The woman was carrying a few dead rabbits in her arms while the guy next to her carried the fire wood.

It seemed that Itachi wasn't back yet, and silently he was hoping that it would stay that way. As if the woman heard his thoughts she spoke up. "Why is Itachi taking it so long? It was his turn to cook!"

"Patience Konan, he probably has a good reason," Pein answered back.

A half hour later, the fire was already burning and the rabbits almost finished cooking when Konan looked up, scowling slightly at the person entering the clearing.

"It took you long enough, you'd do anything to get out of the cooking don't you?"

"Hn." Itachi replied, letting the limp form on his shoulder drop on the ground before him. Tobi raised an eyebrow confused when he looked at the person lying on the ground before Itachi. It was wearing a fox shaped ANBU mask, a black travelling cloak and the long white arm protectors and chest protector seemed to be glowing in the light of the fire. The black tight ANBU gloves, and pants were fitting the body's form perfectly and the ANBU boots almost reached the figures the knees. And last but not least, an ANBU tattoo shining proudly on her left bicep.

"Tobi wonders why you have taken a captive," Tobi mumbled softly with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"Want to let her suffer a bit more before I release her," was his sadistic reply. He kicked the ANBU nin in the ribs, making her groan softly in pain.

"She?" Konan asked confused, already forgotten her annoyance with the Uchiha. Itachi said nothing, only grabbing the person by the neck and yanking of the hood off her travelling cloak, revealing her pink locks.

Kakashi nearly choked on his own saliva when the pink locks were revealed. There, right in front of him was his former student, the one he'd turned his back on and she was risking her own life to come and get them? The guilt and shame in his guts returned ten fold, almost making him wince. Sakura was thrown in their direction, stopping only a few yards away.

Itachi already turned towards his fellow Akatsuki members, not sparing a glance at the woman he'd thrown away. Looking to make sure they weren't paying attention to them anymore, Kakashi carefully began to crawl his way towards the pink haired female. His shoulder and back were screaming for him to stop, the tried blood on his skin was pulling painfully and if he moved too much he could reopen his wounds. But he didn't care. He needed to know if she was alright.

Finally reaching the girl, he nudged her shoulder with his knee. Her fingers twitched and she turned onto her back, her masked face now looking up to him.

"Are you alright?" He whispered softly, his onyx eye locking with the green ones behind the mask. Sakura nodded, shifting slightly before sitting up to be more comfortable.

"How about you?" Her eyes followed the dried blood pattern on his jounin vest.

"I'll be fine." Sakura nodded once again, turning her head slightly to look at the blonde behind the silver haired jounin. Following her gaze he looked at Naruto to. "I don't know what they did to him, he hasn't woken up since we were captured."

Sakura sighed, looking towards the black haired missing nin who captured her gaze before turning back to Kakashi once again. Kakashi didn't seem to notice it though, he let his gaze scan over the woman before him. She didn't have any major wounds, only a few cuts here and there plus a few bruises decorating her skin. His eye kept staring at the ANBU tattoo on her left bicep. _'If I could only have been there for you,_' he thought sadly. He knew how tough it was to be a member of the high elite. Seeing people, team mates, loved ones dying before your eyes only to be replaced by somebody else and having nothing left to keep the ones who'd died there beside you. There wasn't any evidence that the person they fought beside had ever lived when they died, they simply vanished from the face of the earth.

He winced softly and jerked up when he felt somebody touching his back. Blinking rapidly he couldn't see Sakura before him anymore. Turning his head slightly, he saw a few strands of pink behind them. "What are you doing?"

"Shh, be quiet will you," Sakura whispered back. Her hands brushed with his and slowly he began to understand was she was doing. Letting his gaze fall upon the Akatsuki members before them, he sometimes warned Sakura to stop when a gaze fell upon them.

Itachi stood up, saying that nature was calling before he vanished into the woods. Konan sighed, stretching her arms before looking at the pink haired female out of the corner with her eyes. Her eyes widened slightly when she noticed what she was doing. Growling in anger she stood up, walking towards the girl and the silver haired man sitting before her.

Yanking the girl up by her hair she threw her to the ground. "You little bitch!"

"Well thank god I'm not a woman then!" A male voice came now out of Sakura's mouth. The pink hair turning into shoulder length brown hair, bound together in a low pony tail while Sakura's body slowly changed to that of a male form. Kakashi's eye grew wide at the scene.

Konan lunged forward to attack the male but stopped when a sudden mist entered the clearing. Looking around she tried to figure out what the hell was happening.

The mist grew a tad thicker and slowly pink feather's started to fall down from the air. Soft laughter filled the air, coming from every direction. Konan grabbed her kunai turning around in circles hysterically. She couldn't see her team mates anymore, she was the only one left in the clearing. The clearing started to vanish into the black surrounding shadows, leaving Konan all alone in a pitch black void.

"How does it feel to be alone?" A soft voice whispered in her ear. Laughter was heard and Konan desperately tried to find the attacker.

"Don't be a coward show yourself!"

But the one walking towards her wasn't the one she'd expected. Her eyes grew wide with fear, her hand became slack making her drop her kunai. Falling onto her knees, she tried to hug herself while tears were streaming down her face. The person before her laughed, opening his arms while the laughter turned louder with each step he took closer and in the end all that Konan could do was scream and cry.

---

With a confused look Kakashi stared at the blue haired woman. One moment she wanted to attack Sakura and the next moment she was standing still, only to fall onto her knees crying helplessly. He turned his eye towards Sakura, even though he couldn't see her face, he knew she was as awe struck as him, well he thought she was. But when he heard the next sentence coming out of her mouth he only grew ten times more confused. "Remind me to never piss of captain again."

Pein jumped up grabbing Sakura by her neck and yanking her up. "What did you do to her?!"

Sakura only laughed, making Pein further more frustrated and he threw her to the ground in disgust.

"What did you do!"

"I'm not doing anything yet I am." Sakura laughed at the irony.

The mist was starting up again and this time Pein clearly felt four different chakra signatures. They were surrounded and they'd fooled them too! Kneeling down and checking on Konan, he realised that the girl was dead. Grabbing Kakashi and Naruto by their collars, he dragged them closer to himself. He couldn't lose them now, after all that hard planning and finally getting the youngest Uchiha's trust.

Pink petals started to fall down from the air all landing at a spot a few yards in front of Pein. Softly circling in the air, it started to form a slim body. She held something long in her hands and he way she was holding it, it looked like a bow. Something blue sparked at her fingers before it disappeared again, but at the same time Pein could feel something warm trickling down his cheek. Letting his free hand touch his cheek, he could see the blood now staining his fingertips.

Throwing shuriken towards the form, the petals exploded apart, only to come together again minutes after but this time charging him with full speed. Letting the two bodies go, he grabbed a kunai and stabbed in into where the forms stomach was supposed to be. But when he looked up he looked straight into Konan's face.

"No…"

Letting his kunai drop he looked at the now dying Konan at his arms. Kakashi didn't know what was going on. First the blue haired girl was screaming and crying her heart out, then the red head was yelling at something only to stab the blue haired girl in the stomach moments after.

He could feel some chakra signatures surrounding the area, three to be exact. '_So the retrieval team finally caught up then huh._'

Pein closed the now dull eyes of Konan, anger boiling up within him. They were going to pay for his. Looking down at the pink haired girl who was looking at him with a knowing glint, he grabbed her neck painfully.

"What have you done?!" But this time the girl in his hand didn't reply, but a voice behind him did.

"He didn't do anything, I did." A cold voice answered his question.

Letting go of the woman in his hand he turned around to look at the same woman, but this one was still wearing her hood and had not a scratch on her. "You'll pay for this," was the only reply he gave before he charged at her. Sakura dodged the attack, throwing some shuriken at him as she did so. They entered into a deadly dance, blocking or dodging each other's attacks, trying to out smart the other one and both continually thinking one step ahead.

While Sakura was keeping Pein busy, Daisuke finally transformed back to his normal self. Quickly shrugging off the poorly done ropes around his wrists he turned towards the silver haired man. Kneeling down behind him, he was cutting down the ropes with one of his daggers.

"Can you walk?" Daisuke asked, trying not to hit his flesh while he was busy.

"Yeah." Daisuke gave a quick nod, signalling Nami to him with a wave of his hand.

"Nami, I want you to carry that blonde guy over there away from here, Captain can only hold this jutsu for so long." Nami nodded, touching his shoulder briefly before grabbing the blonde haired nin and taking off.

When Daisuke was finished he quickly created two shadow clones who both transformed into Naruto and Kakashi. Both the clones took over their chakra signature before lying down on their spots. Turning towards the silver haired nin he saw he was struggling to stay standing. Sighing softly he murmured an apology before grabbing the man and tossing him over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"You can hardly stand, let alone leap through the woods." He turned around to look at his captain one more time, whispering softly, 'You better come out of this alive captain," before taking off himself.'

Sakura was panting good and hard, already having received some punches and cuts from her opponent. She could feel her team mates leaving the area. Only Renge and Sasuke were still here. Glancing over her shoulder she could see Renge still fighting with the orange masked guy. Sasuke was still lying unconsciously on the ground, not knowing what was going on around him.

It was time to get them out here safely, otherwise this may turn out badly. Doing a few back flips she kneeled down, her hands racing over twelve seals. Renge already felt the dangerous spike of his captain's chakra, glancing over his shoulder he could see her kneeled in the position. His eye widened with shock. Didn't she know the consequences of that genjutsu?

But when he locked his gaze with her, he knew instantly why she was doing it. Lowering his head for a quick prayer he blew a poisoned cloud towards his opponent before he concentrated chakra into his feet, grabbing Sasuke from the ground and racing away from the clearing.

Sakura smiled knowing that the plan had worked, and released her most deadly genjutsu. The only thing was is that she would go through it too, feeling the agony and pain her genjutsu was causing. She was bleeding from the inside, blood already trickling out of her nose and mouth corners and the longer she held up the genjutsu, the more damage her body would get. Squeezing her eyes shut, she let the pain flow over her body while slowly blood was trickling down her skin.

---

Tsunade looked up when she heard a faint knock on her door. Yelling, "Enter," the door opened and Sakura's team came in. Nami was supporting Naruto, his arm lying over her shoulders while Nami's arm was wrapped around his middle.

Following behind her were Daisuke, Kakashi, Sasuke and Renge, who closed he door after stepping inside. But the sad and sorrowful looking faces had escaped her attention, just like the fact that a certain captain was missing.

"I'm glad to see you brats back alive. When Sakura sent the message that Akatsuki had captured you, we were worried." Glancing over the group she finally noticed one person missing. Her heart missed a beat while panic was slowly creeping into her heart.

"Where is she?"

Renge spoke up this time. "She used **the** jutsu Hokage-sama. She ordered us to bring team Kakashi home safely seeing how much they mean to the village." His head was lowered, trying to keep a steady voice.

Tsunade choked, her eyes widening while she stood up from her chair.

Flashback

'_Please Sakura, if you don't want to do it for them do it at least for the village, for me. You know how much those three mean to the village._'

Flashback

She let it sound as if those three were the only ones to keep the village running, too precious to lose. Tears were streaming down her cheeks while she turned her back on them. Staring out into the borders, she knew that somewhere her former apprentice was lying on the brink of death, fighting for her life or maybe even worse, already having left this place.

-------

It had been a week since that all that had happened, and Sakura still hadn't returned. Tsunade had sent search parties but every time it was in vain. She hadn't been found, only the bloodied fox ANBU mask was left to be found, on the blood saturated ground and a single kunai lay near by.

The whole group was standing in the office again, but this time Ino was also standing next to Daisuke. Sakura's ANBU mask lay on the desk while Tsunade had her back turned towards them, much like that day three weeks ago. Tsunade cleared her throat, sniffing softly while wiping the new fresh tears off her cheeks.

"I've never thought I would say this," Tsunade said crying. "But Sakura's funeral will be 5 days from now."

Ino burst out crying hysterically. Daisuke holding her while she cried her heart out for her best friend. Nami looked away herself, biting her lip to try to hold in her tears, but she couldn't stop them from falling. Their beloved captain and friend, the one whom they thought to be invincible had fallen, and there was nothing they could do to bring her back.

**_To be continued..._**


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you for all those wonderfull reviews, more favourites and alerts, it really keeps me going. It's a bit of a short chappie and I'm sorry for that but the next one will be longer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 9:**

The sun was starting to rise, letting its first sunbeams hit Konoha. The village was quiet, the birds weren't singing yet, no laughing children were to be found running through the streets causing mayhem and mischief there was only silence, a silence as profound and poignant as death itself. The person atop the Hokage monument sighed, letting his gaze fall over the village.

His feet dangled over the edge, his hands sat a bit behind him whilst he leaned backwards. His lower half of his face was hidden behind a mask, a steel plated headband covered his left eye.

Sighing, Kakashi let his gaze fall upon the big green gates. His heart ached with agony, his mind thinking back over the events that happened 3 weeks ago and had led up till now. Lowering his head, he felt a tear slipping past his barrier. Sasuke was immediately put in jail when Tsunade had found out that he'd betrayed the village once again, Naruto was an empty shell. The blonde's cheerful and happy character was gone seemingly forever, knowing that his best friend had betrayed him for revenge, not once but twice now and the only good friend he had had, he'd pushed away and yet she'd died to save them, they who'd betrayed her and left behind in an awful and very callous way.

And the death of Sakura had hit him personally like no weapon or any torture techniques ever possibly could. When he'd first seen her leaping over the roofs towards Hokage tower while he was sitting in Ichiraku's with his team, the sight had left him with a dull ache but it was forgotten the moment she vanished into the darkness of the night.

Then the next day when she'd shown up before them, only looking at her own team, not even sparing a glance towards them and she'd disappeared a few minutes after she was done speaking with her team without a single backwards glance or thought. That day it had made him see how much she had truly grown, not only physically but also mentally. The little girl he had known was gone and in her place was someone entirely different. Her long pink hair slowly bouncing up and down while the wind played with it, her green emerald orbs looking sternly at her team, but her voice was so cold and emotionless and there was only himself to blame for that. He'd turned his back on her when she needed him the most, they all had, and yet despite that she'd saved them, her team had brought them home and now she was gone.

Another tear rolled down his masked cheek, his hands clenching slightly while his chest tightened painfully, making it hard for him to breathe, and causing him to feel as if he were suffocating. It wasn't to far from the truth actually, he was drowning in his own black void, it had started when his father committed suicide and the events with his team had only pushed him further. But then when he'd been assigned to team 7 he'd slowly started to come out of it again, by his own choice but now the hard truth that Sakura was gone had pushed him back into the void deeper than ever before, and he knew, just knew that he wouldn't come out of it this time.

A sob escaped his lips and a few more tears rolled down. He couldn't even remember when he had cried like this, and to think it was his own entire fault. The feeling he had felt when Neji had touched Sakura, puling her closer to his body had only made anger and jealousy fill him his senses going into over drive, and still he couldn't explain why he felt like that. _'But it doesn't matter anyway, she's gone.' _He told himself within his own mind.

He slowly stood up, carefully stretching his back. It was still a bit tender from the wound he bore there. With that he teleported back to his apartment, and while walking to the bathroom, he started to strip off his clothes. Turning the water on he glanced into the mirror, where two mismatched eyes stared back at him with a sad look. Stepping into the shower he started to wash himself mechanically. Today was Sakura's funeral and he really didn't want this day to come, he was still holding on to the hope that Sakura would come walking back into the village, saying that she'd had some business to take care of before returning and that she was alright. But once her name was engraved onto the memorial stone there would no hope left, the little spark of light keeping him from drowning would be faded and he'd be lost.

Turning off the water he stood there for a while, looking dully around him. When he finally stepped out of the shower he was almost dry, only a few drops of water decorated his skin. Pulling on his funeral clothes he sighed once again. Looking out of his window he could already see a few people walking towards the memorial stone. But unlike every other morning, it was still to quiet, the birds still didn't sing, as if they knew that a wonderful person had died. In her short lifetime she'd had more than the half of the village on her table and saved them, she'd rescued parents of the younger children, she was a big inspiration for the younger ones, somebody to look up to and even for the older ones she was somebody to admire. And today was the day that the person wouldn't come back to them anymore. No longer would she brighten people's day just with a glimpse of her walking down the streets on her way to the training field, Hokage tower, ANBU headquarters or going away on a mission, making them feel safe.

Closing the door behind him as he stepped outside, he started to walk towards Naruto's home. Leaping up to his apartment he knocked on the door twice, and only a few more minutes later the door opened and Naruto came out. His eyes had lost their sparkle and he tried to smile when he saw his team leader standing before him but he could only move the corner of his lips before it fell back down again.

"Hey Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded, letting his hands rest on his shoulder for a few seconds before drawing his hand back again. Together they started to walk towards the memorial stone, silently walking next to each other.

When they'd finally reached it, the place was already crowded, almost everyone in the village had showed up to honour the girl. It was quite unusual for an ANBU member to get such a big funeral, but with Sakura being the apprentice of the fifth Hokage and having healed more than the half of the village, everybody knew the girl and each had loved her in their own way. Even Sasuke was standing there, guarded by ANBU members. Tsunade didn't have the heart to deny his request to come to her funeral. Sakura's mother was standing next to Tsunade, who was handing the woman her daughters' ANBU mask. The woman fell to her knees, clutching the ANBU mask close to her body while she cried. Tsunade knelt by her, enclosing the mourning woman in her arms while she shed a few tears of her own.

Kakashi kept staring at the scene, mostly at the ANBU mask close to the woman on the ground's heart, remembering the day he had found the fox mask on the blood saturated ground.

----

"_Your back isn't fully healed, I refuse to let you go with one of the search parties. You'll only slow them down!"_

"_With all__ due respect Hokage-sama, I'm going with or without your permission. I'm going to search for Sakura and __**no one**__ can stop me."_

_Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temple__'s while she stared out of the window. "Fine you may go, but Shizune will come along with you to look out for your health."_

"_Hai, Hokage-sama."_

_The next day Kakashi and Shizune were sent out. Three days later when they finally reached the place where Team Kakashi was first captured, Kakashi summoned his dogs, Pakkun leading the way while the others were searching the grounds on their own. Four days they hadn't found anything but on the fifth, Pakkun finally smelled a faint scent of Sakura. But the closer they came, the stronger the scent of blood was._

"_Almost there boss."_

_Kakashi nodded, leaping with full speed behind the dog. The thick scent of blood hanging in the air made him very worried, frightened that they were too late. __His heart raced in his chest, at the hope of finding Sakura alive. They were lucky that it hadn't rained for a while, otherwise the trail that lead to Sakura would have been destroyed completely._

"_Dear god…"_

_Kakashi looked confused at his companion __but when he looked in the direction Pakkun was looking in, his heart missed a beat. The normal green leaves were now coloured and tainted with blood, the ground looked like a red pool. Broken branches, soil, leaves just everything surrounding it was covered in blood. _

"_SAKURA!!!" No response met Kakashi's despairing yell. He kept yelling __and yelling, hoping for a sign of life to meet with his calls, but only silence met his ears._

_Shizune finally met up with him, only to get the shock of her life. Tears welled up in her eyes while one of her hands was pressed against her mouth. Walking further into the area, his eye __caught a glimpse of something shining to the left of him. Walking in that direction, he pushed some branches away only to stop dead in his tracks moments later._

_A bloodied kunai was reflecting the __sunlight beaming down on it, beckoning him towards the spot where it rested and nearby lay the fox ANBU mask, blood staining the white material everywhere. As if his legs had a will of their own he slowly started to walk towards the mask, kneeling down and picking it up off the blood saturated ground. _

_Closing his eyes with the overwhelming pain he let his forehead rest again__st the porcelain mask. The flickering flame of hope was threatening to go out. The coppery scent of blood didn't bother him anymore, and tilting his head up towards the sky he let out one more heartbreaking, blood curdling yell of, "SAKURA!"_

_----_

They stayed there for two days searching for her body, but every one of their effortswas in vain. Defeated they returned home, only the ANBU mask and kunai were found.

Turning his head to the right, he could see Sakura's ANBU team and Ino walking into the clearing. The red haired woman's eyes were red and puffy from crying, matching Ino's perfectly. Ino was being held by Daisuke, his brown eyes that normal held such a playful twinkle were now full of sorrow and pain. The blonde/light brown haired guy was holding the red haired woman, his left arm resting over her shoulders while she was held against his side. Even though they were ANBU members and had learned not to show any emotion, he would let it slip for now. It seemed that Sakura was really loved and cared for by her team, something that had been lacking in her former team. Kakashi quickly looked away, he didn't want to go back there again. All his faults and mistakes only made it that much harder to carry the burden upon his shoulders and it was heavy enough as it is.

The soft mummer of people talking with each other died down when Tsunade stepped onto the stage next to the memorial stone. She had wiped away some of her tears, but new ones were already building back up in her eyes and those she left as she addressed the gathered assembly.

"We have gathered here today to honour the life and death of a girl named Sakura Haruno. A bright young student, the smartest of her class and devoted to her friends, family and above all her village. When she first came to me she was a little girl who was trying to find her way, not knowing what she was supposed to do. She grew up and learned much, working so hard, and turning into one of the most brilliant kunoichi Konoha has ever known. She lent her strength to others when they needed her help, saved people whom others had already had lost hope of ever surviving, even bringing people back from the brink of death as if it was nothing. She had surpassed me already and I couldn't have been more proud than if she were my own daughter." Tsunade stopped a while, wiping away the tears while a watery smile played on her lips when she thought back to the young ANBU captain. The next part was going to be hard on her though and her voice started to tremble slightly when she spoke the rest of her speech.

"It was a shame to lose such a wonderful person after such a short time. But keep her in your hearts, remember that she died protecting this village that she loved and held so dear and that she'll be watching over us where she is now. Rest in peace, our beloved Sakura Haruno, your memory will be forever carved into our hearts."

Tears were now streaming freely down her cheeks, and she didn't do a thing to stop them. She stepped down, locking Sakura's real mother into her embrace once again as the woman cried her heart out. The whole village were shedding tears for the pink haired girl, some more than others but Tsunade knew that the death of her apprentice wouldn't be forgotten for a while.

Turning towards the man who was to carve Sakura's name onto the memorial stone, she gave a quick nod. The man nodded back, picking up his hammer and chisel. He pushed the chisel onto the smooth surface, raising his arm where he held his hammer and when he let his arm fall, the hammer nearly hit the chisel a voice spoke and stopped him in his tracks.

"A person who is being placed onto that stone is dead, and the last time I checked, I was still breathing and I'm pretty sure I can still feel my heart beating."

_**To be continued…**_


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Wow! Thank you everyone for all those reviews, it really made me feel good and warmed my heart that you like that chappie so much. I've even managed to make a few of you cry. (sorry if you didn't want to cry but it was supposed to be a sad chappie ;P) Well this chapter is diffrent than you would expect. This is the part where.. wel you see it yourself ^^. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 10:**

The trees were getting blurry and black spots appeared before her eyes. Sakura shook her head wildly, trying to rid her vision of them whilst she struggled to remain standing. Her hands were placed firmly against the bark of the tree. With all her strength, she pushed herself further into the woods, leaving a blood trail behind.

She needed to get out of here, she didn't have enough chakra to heal herself and she still felt the faint chakra of the one pursuing her. She tripped and fell onto the ground, closing her eyes tight, and coughing up the blood that was filling her airway. Clenching her hands she felt the fallen leaves clinging to her as if they were a second skin.

The footsteps were getting louder and the chakra signature was closer than before. She had to get away from here otherwise it wouldn't end well on her part. Pushing herself up she forced her legs to move, she stumbled but stubbornly she got up again, moving away from the person following her. An alert tingle in her head made her jump to the left, avoiding the kunai which had been thrown at her.

She struggled to get up and moved a few inches away when a hand closed around her throat and tossed her backwards. She landed on her side, her head hitting the ground with a sickening thud. She closed her eyes in pain and felt her mask being grabbed and tossed away.

She opened her eyes warily seeing a blurry black coat with something red. The same hand grabbed her throat again, yanking her off the ground and holding her in the air. Her hands weakly came up to struggle but she simply didn't have the strength anymore. A smirk was placed upon her lips when she noticed that the red head currently holding her was heavily bleeding himself.

The man scowled, tightening his hold on her throat. "You ruined everything! I had them and you had to come and ruin everything I've worked for. You even killed Konan!"

"D-don't forget to mention I-Itachi," Sakura said smirked, the blood in her mouth making it hard for her to talk, not to mention the hand squeezing so tightly around her throat.

"I'll make you scream just like your father did when I killed him." Sakura said nothing but the hatred inside her welled up, spitting at Pein and hitting him straight in the face.

"Fuck you!" She spat out.

Pein's eyes narrowed dangerously and he threw her on the ground once again. She landed close to her mask, her own blood splattering on the smooth white surface.

Flashback

"_I give you the mask of a fox, referring to your stealthy ability to sneak upon targets and get away again without being seen. When you are lost or in a dangerous position, remember why I have given you this particular mask."_

_Sakura nodded, holding the ANBU mask Ibiki had just given her. She smiled at him. "I'll remember."_

Flashback

'_Thanks Ibiki, I finally understand what you mean._' Sakura ground her teeth together when a kunai was pushed into her lower back. Kicking her legs up, she hit Pein right in his stomach and causing him to stumble backwards. Pulling out the kunai she threw it on the ground, her hands now racing towards creating the last seal to summon the last amount of chakra from her system.

"Till we meet again," Sakura coughed victoriously before she disappeared in a swirl of petals.

She faintly heard the angry growl of her opponent, but the moment she hit the ground again, she collapsed. Her vision was darkening and the last thing she saw was a small girl, screaming before everything went blank.

When Sakura finally woke up, she felt that she was lying on something soft and she was covered by a silken blanket. A small delicate hand was touching her bandaged one, the little thump stroking her uncovered skin soothingly.

Footsteps were heard outside the room she was in and she could feel two people coming towards her. The door opened and the hand caressing her skin vanished. The sound of rustling clothes filled the air, and they were soon followed by a heavy voice, it sounded warm and concerned. A soft, sweet voice followed soon after.

"Has she woken up yet, Akira?"

"No father, she's been like this for a week now. Do you know who she is?"

"No, I asked around in the village but no one seems to know just whom this pinked haired woman."

"Well we'll just have to wait until she wakes up then."

Another voice filled the air, but this one seemed a bit annoyed, and slightly angered.

"With all due respect my lord but I don't think it was a good idea to bring a wounded kunoichi into your house. Who knows just who's after her or she could even be one of those rogue nin's for all we know."

"She isn't bad! I have a good feeling about her." The same small hand touched her again, this time brushing some pink hair strands away from her face. "She makes me feel safe."

"That might be so lady Akira, but…"

"Don't question my daughter's instinct, she's saved us multiple times because of it. If she has a good feeling about her then I will not question it."

"Forgive me my lord, it was not my place to question Lady Akira."

"Damn right it wasn't," the soft voice near her mumbled. It wasn't heard by the other two people it seemed because no one reacted to it. Somebody walked away, leaving Sakura in a room with the other two people who were taking care of her.

"Father she will be alright, won't she?" Her voice sounded softer, a hint of fear and concern held within it.

"Let's hope so sweetheart, lets hope so."

Footsteps moved away from her, a door soon closed and Sakura was left alone. She couldn't open her eyes no matter how hard she tried. Her body was exhausted but she'd heard the little conversation all to well. She inwardly sighed and tried to move her hand but failed to do so.

Trying to do something else, anything to distract herself, she focused on the chakra signals around her, checking out her surrounding as best she could without the aid of her sight. She could feel 5 chakra signatures within the place, but she sensed nothing dangerous. They all seemed to be civilians. Sakura relaxed a little, there wasn't any signature nearby setting off her alarms and it seemed that the little girl she last seen had taken her home, and saved her life with that action. Feeling sleep slowly creeping over her senses once again, she decided to give in and once again fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

The second time Sakura awoke, she could feel the soft breeze of the wind on her face. She was still in the bed she was in when she first had woken up, but this time there wasn't a hand stroking her skin. She hadn't felt anything but now her wounds itched, ached with agony and pain and all she wanted to do was to cut off everything so she wouldn't feel it anymore.

Sakura groaned softly, turning her head slightly to the side. A rush of footsteps signalled the approach of someone coming her way and soon the same small hand she'd felt when she had first woken up touched her right cheek.

"Miss, can you hear me?"

Sakura nodded briefly, opening her eyes slightly to meet violet ones, reminding her so much of her red haired team mate, Nami. The girl was wearing an old fashioned dress, but one look at it and you knew she was of a high family. Her black hair was pulled into a low ponytail, revealing her slender neck. Looking at her Sakura realised the girl couldn't be older than eight.

"What's your name?" The girl asked, a soft smile playing on her lips and the look in her eyes surprised Sakura the most. She was relieved. Thinking that these people wouldn't bring her to any harm, she decided to tell her, her real name, she owed them her life after all.

"Sakura," Sakura croaked, her throat was sore, as if she walked days in the dessert while drinking not a single drop of water and croaky from disuse.

"I'm Akira," the black haired girl smiled. She touched her hand again, the warmth of her skin sinking through the bandages wrapped around it and onto her hand. She squeezed her hand gently, her smile widening softly.

"You gave me quite a scare Sakura-san when I found you lying in the woods far from the village. I called my father and together we brought you here into our home. I've been taking care off you since then."

"How long?"

"That was two weeks ago."

Sakura nodded, smiling a bit towards the child who beamed back at her. So she'd been unconscious for two weeks huh? That meant they'd probably already sent a search team to look for her. They might already have declared her dead after all this time. It wouldn't surprise her that much if they had, if she remembered the place she was in before she'd teleported a few miles away, it was splattered in her own blood and some of Peins' to. She wondered what Tsunade would do when she found out that she was gone? Her team would mourn for her, she knew that for sure. Even though she'd only met the lot two years ago, she had a pretty close bound with them, was close enough them to see them as good friends, but despite her best efforts she couldn't love them like she'd been able to when she was younger.

And her mother, she would be all alone now. Determination welled up in her, she **had** to go back. Her mother relied on her. And Ino… she remembered the conversation she'd had with her when she got back from her solo mission. She knew Ino wouldn't take it well if she disappeared for good, and besides Sakura needed her. Like Ino needs Sakura, Sakura needed Ino, she was the thin thread that was always there to keep her sane.

She tried to push herself up, her wounds stretching, and giving her a new wave of pain. She hissed and was pushed back against the soft mattress with soft push from a small hand on her shoulder.

"You mustn't push yourself to hard Sakura-san. Your wounds aren't healed well enough and one wrong movement could open up the stitches."

Sakura sighed, knowing the little girl was right and she hadn't the chakra to heal them still either. The girl's smiled widened again when she saw the woman before her give up her struggle and decide to play along. She didn't know why but the moment she'd laid her eyes upon this pink haired female she felt a sudden connection, something she'd been waiting for, for so long. It was as if she knew her and yet she didn't. Somehow she knew she could trust this girl, her green emerald eyes were comforting to her even though they were slightly darkened.

"Are you hungry Sakura-san? You must be since you haven't eaten for two weeks. I'll ask Kei-kun to make some food for you." Even before Sakura could answer the girl, she had already left the room.

Even though Sakura wasn't really hungry, she shook her head smiling a little, she remembered being a bit like herself when she was that age. She pushed herself up, letting her back rest against the head of the bed she was laying on. She closed her eyes briefly willing away the pain before opening them again. The pink haired female scanned the room, her eyebrow's raising amusedly while she let her gaze wander further. It seemed she had landed in a mansion after all. She was laying on a king sized bed, curtains the perfect shade of red, were bound to each pole with gold colored ropes. On her right there was a chair, drawn away from the make-up table that stood against the wall not far from here. The wall long window was pushed open, revealing the slightest bit of the balcony Akira was standing on moments ago. The curtains hanging there seemed to be made of silk, slowly dancing on the soft melody of the wind itself.

Right before her bed was an old fashioned couch by the looks of it and the large cushions lying on either corner of the thing made it look quite comfy to just sit on while reading a book. On the other side of the room was no window, only a small table with a vase, currently holding a beautiful bouquet of red roses and a closet, the biggest Sakura had ever seen so far. And that was saying alot since she was best friends with the female in the leaf village who owned the most clothes ever, Ino. She would just love this place, Sakura knew it.

She turned her head again when the big oak door opened. Akira was holding a small tray in her hands. She huffed slightly when she saw Sakura now sitting straight up.

"I told you not to move."

"If I recall the words it was actually 'don't push your self to hard'," Sakura replied, her voice still hoarse."

The girl looked up surprised, only to let out a giggle before placing the tray carefully on her lap. "You've got me there, just be careful."

The girl turned her head away, her eyes saddened. Sakura didn't know why but she felt extremely guilty, she hoped she hadn't upset the girl. Moving her own hand upwards she touched the small hand. The girl flinched visibly and turned her head only to look into the smiling face of the woman she had saved.

"Thank you."

Akira smiled back, a blush staining on her cheeks. She helped Sakura to eat the food she had brought for her, let her drink some water before she ordered Sakura back to sleep. That was the routine for the next two days. She would come into the room, speak with Sakura about everything, her life, her family, how her mother had left them when she was still a small child to her obsession for painting and riding in the woods. She asked Sakura about everything too. Where she came from, what she was etc. Sakura answered them with most of the full truth, although letting out the part when she was part of team 7. And when she was done talking, she would get up and let Kei-kun make some food for her, their own personal chef. She would come back, sitting there next to her and painting while Sakura would eat her food. They would talk awhile before Sakura went back to sleep, only to be woken up for dinner.

Sakura had met their butler, Jun also. He wasn't a really bad man, even though he was cold towards her, he was just protecting the family he had served his whole life and Sakura really couldn't blame him. She had also met Yuuki, Akira's personal maid. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes, reminding her of her best friend Ino. But unlike her, Yuuki was shy and only talked when it was necessarily. Her father whose name is Hiro, was away on a business matters a lot, he'd just come back from his travel two days ago before Sakura arrived.

On the fifth day, Sakura was sitting in the garden with Hiro, drinking a cup of tea and simply enjoying the beautiful day. Sakura was mostly healed up, the minor injuries already healed, but the big ones still held the painful ache when she moved to fast or stretched too far. She had pulled the stitches on her back a few times, earning the wrath of Akira upon her when she found out. Even though she was a medic, she didn't want to heal these wounds since they lay in fatal positions and one wrong move with her chakra she could damage herself even more, besides the family was quite interesting, reminding her of her own when she was young expect for the her mother hadn't left her.

Akira was riding in the woods, or so Hiro had told her. But when a high pitched scream peirced the air, Sakura stood up alarmed. The father looked terrified and Sakura quickly told him to get her a horse. Sakura ran up the wall to get her katana, and Hiro complied with Sakura's command. Jumping off the balcony seconds later Sakura ran and grabbed the black furred horse Hiro had gotten for her. Riding at full speed towards the chakra signature of Akira she now felt one other along with her. '_Shit, it seems he has found me then._' Begging her horse to go faster, the pair moved in record time.

She was right in time to pull Akira on her own horse before she was hit by a fire ball. The black haired girl was crying, clutching tightly to Sakura. She quickly scanned Akira for any wounds, and when she hadn't found any she sighed relieved. Concentrating on the signal around her, she could sense Pein was not far behind.

Stirring her horse around the trees, she couldn't help but feel guilty. She had put this caring family in danger when she'd stayed and let them take care of her. Alarm bells went off in her head and quickly she dodged the kunai that had been aimed at them. She knew she couldn't fight him while she had to protect Akira as well.

Giving the girl a reassuring squeeze she placed the reins into her small hands. "Whatever happens, whatever you may hear, I want you to ride as fast as you can and don't look back alright. There is a town a few miles north from here. From there you should know the road back to your home."

"But Sakura-san what about you?"

"Trust me, I'll be fine. Now go!"

Sakura jumped up onto the horses back before grabbing the rather low hanging branch with one hand and swinging herself up. Concentrating chakra into her feet, she was still in perfect balance. Her eyes flamed with hatred and pulling out her katana she waited for Pein to arrive. He was much weaker than before, but then again so was Sakura.

Much like the deadly dance they'd done last time they met, they dodged each others attacks, each trying to out smart the other one. But when Sakura's feet slipped away, Pein grabbed his chance and slammed the girl hard into a tree. Gritting her teeth, Sakura closed her eyes when she felt her wounds open up once again. Her shirt was slowly becoming wet from her blood, and Sakura only had a second to think before having to dodge the kunai which had been aimed at her heart.

Jumping away she ground her teeth together. With every move she made, her back was protesting painfully. She had to finish this now, otherwise he might come back for Akira and her father and they certainly didn't deserve that at all.

Her hands raced over the twelve seals again, Pein's eyes widening when he noticed the same dangerous spike of her chakra that had nearly killed him last time. But he was already too late. Sakura released her genjutsu, this time only stopping when she was bordering on critical. She opened her eyes, wiping away the blood from her mouth that had trickled down. Grabbing her katana she walked towards the bloodied form of Pein. Stopping in front of him she raised her katana, her eyes locking with his.

"This is for my father," she said coldly before slitting his throat and stabbing him in the heart. Pulling her katana out of Pein's corpse, she whipped the blood off on her pants before sliding it back into its saya. It was time to go back to Konoha, she had stayed away long enough. Turning her head to look behind her, she silently said goodbye to Akira and Hiro before turning around and making her way towards her village.

It seemed she had landed in the land of Grass and travelling back towards Konoha would take her a week in her condition. Dried blood decorated her skin, both hers and Pein's, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to see the Hokage monument of her village, her mother smiling brightly whenever she paid a visit and mostly Ino and her team. She wondered how they were now they thought she was dead. She snickered softly, she really would give them all a shock when she would walk into the village wouldn't she?

But when she reached the village a week later, she raised an eyebrow at the fact that everything was so quiet. Masking her chakra she slipped into the woods of the training grounds, she had a feeling they would be there. Her feeling was confirmed when she saw almost the entire village out for her funeral. A small smile was placed upon her lips. She was really loved then huh? She felt a bit bad for making her mother cry that way but she wanted to hear the speech Tsunade had prepared.

The thing's she said about her, only made her smile widen and she watched slightly confused when her former Shishou was done, everyone seemed to shed a tear a two for her. She looked at her appearance. She had cuts everywhere, her clothes were torn, blood soaked bandages were wrapped around her big back wound since she didn't want to remove them and dried blood lay everywhere and still there was the slowly streaming blood from the wound she had on the side of her head, where she had torn it open when she woke up with a start. Yup, she really would give them a scare.

When she saw the man move to carve the first letter of her name into the smooth surface of the memorial stone, she finally spoke up, stepping forward but still leaning against the bark of the tree looking at the floor the entire time she spoke.

"A person who is being placed onto that stone is dead, and the last time I checked, I was still breathing and I'm pretty sure I can still feel my heart beating."

When she was done, she looked up, locking her emerald eyes with the honey coloured ones of her former mentor who looked back in complete shock. She smirked inwardly, stepping forwards while the whole village looked at her amazed.

Sakura bowed slightly, a few more drops of blood falling onto the ground before she stood straight once again. "Sorry I'm late, got some things I had to take care off," a smirk playing on her lips the entire time.

But out of the many ways Sakura thought of how Tsunade would react, she never thought in a million years it would be this one… she fainted.

**_To be contiued..._**


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thank you guys for all those wonderful reviews, it really cheered me up. Well here's the chapter you've all been waiting for. What will be Kakashi's reaction? Read and find out ^^ enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 11:**

When he'd heard her voice, he thought his mind was playing with him. That voice that would haunt him forever, twist his heart into knots for the rest of his life, the voice he thought he'd never hear in the waking world ever again. But then he heard the soft gasps of people standing around him, he looked up, his eye widening greatly at the sight, his heart racing so fast it felt like it would burst from his chest, while he stared at the woman standing behind the memorial stone. Her form was still shadowed by the tree itself, but when the figure walked forward, his breath stuck in his throat.

This couldn't be happening, it couldn't be true… Could it? They'd searched the entire area for her and found nothing but her mask and a bloodied kunai. It could be an illusion his mind had thrown up, attempting to trick him with, but he could feel her faint chakra signature and besides, the other people all around could see her to. It was Sakura alright, the pink hair was a dead give away. But what shocked him the most was how she looked. Covered in blood, cuts and bruises, blood still trailing down her skin and the dark circles under her eyes indicating she hadn't slept properly in a while…. she looked like a walking corpse. She spoke again, but what she said he couldn't recall. He kept staring at her mouth, relief washing over him while the rest of him clenched painfully at the terrible condition she was in.

A soft thud was heard, pulling him out of his trance and he looked now at the fainted form of the Hokage. He raised an eyebrow confused, but it was to be suspected he supposed. Tsunade had been repeatedly blaming herself for her former apprentice's death, she hadn't slept well, and had taken to completely drowning herself into sake, worse than before while she kept on clinging to the hope that Sakura would somehow still be found. But three weeks later, only evidence that Sakura had died had come back, tearing the little hope she and everyone else had held onto into shreds. And now the girl was standing there in front of her, smirking while she was drenched in blood as if nothing was wrong.

Sakura looked at her former shishou's form confused. Well that wasn't what she expected. Her eyes lifted and looked now at the crowd gaping at her. She lifted her arm in a greeting, her mouth turning into a small smile.

"Heya."

Ino was the first to come out of her trance, removing herself from Daisuke's embrace and running towards her friend. She threw her arms around her neck, almost strangling her with the strength she held her with. She cried her heart out while she tightened her hold on the pink haired shinobi, afraid that if she let her go she would vanish into thin air once more.

Sakura hissed at the aggressive hold Ino was hugging her with, her wounds protesting loudly and screaming at her to break free. Biting her lower lip she tried to hold in the scream so full of pain that threatened to erupt. She really wanted to push Ino away from her, but the way she was crying, holding on to her as if she were the most precious thing in her world kept her from doing so. Instead she threw her arms around her in a comforting embrace, stroking her blonde hair soothingly while she let her best friend cry it out.

The whole village kept staring at the two young women, not caring that their leader was lying on the ground unconscious. Shizune was the second to break out of her trance. Sakura was still heavily injured and god knows how long she'd been travelling with those wounds. Even though Sakura was an excellent medic herself, she couldn't have healed all those wounds. Although she was still standing and conscious, it would only be a matter of time until she fainted from blood loss and Shizune knew all of this only to well.

Walking towards the pink haired woman, she carefully pried her out of Ino's embrace, giving her a soft smile.

"I'm glad you're back alive Sakura, but as a medic I want you in the hospital right away."

Ino wiped away her tears, still not believing that her best friend was still alive and well, well for the most part. Taking a deep breath, she tried to stay her voice.

"I'll bring her to the hospital." Ino said having already taken hold of Sakura's hand, transported them both away before Shizune could react.

Shizune smiled at the spot they had been standing on a minute ago before turning around to face the frozen form of Sakura's mother. Placing her hand on her shoulder, she gave her a soft squeeze. The woman blinked with her green eyes, turning her head towards Shizune while her long black hair fell over her shoulder with the movement.

"Why don't you go to the hospital yourself Hanu-san?" The woman nodded weakly and Shizune signalled Renge to bring her. Turning around to the crowd she shooed them back home before turning towards the limp form of her master. She shook her head smiling, holding in a laughing fit.

"Kakashi-san would you be so kind to bring her to the hospital?" Without waiting for an answer she transported herself to the hospital, walking fast through the halls to tend to Sakura's wounds herself.

* * *

When Tsunade woke up her nose twitched at the scent that typically swept through every hospital. Opening her eyes she saw the white painted ceiling. She wondered briefly why she was lying here. What happened? But then it came back to her with full force. Sakura's funeral, her speech followed by a bloodied Sakura walked into the clearing and then nothing.

Knitting her eyebrows together she thought back, this couldn't be the real Sakura right? No… It must just be her imagination playing up. The sound of a page flipping over caught her attention, and turning her head she looked straight at…Sakura. She was sitting in a chair next to her bed, her legs crossed while she read a book.

"Took you long enough Shishou," Sakura said, not looking up from her book.

Tsunade gasped, her eyes widening again at the sight of her. Is it really her? It must be her because she felt Sakura's chakra signature, very weak but still there none the less. She felt light headed again and flinched slightly when a hand touched her shoulder.

"Don't faint on me again Shishou. Is it really that hard to believe that I'm back and alive?"

Sakura had already placed her book on the table next to her, her eyes holding the honey ones hostage while her bandaged hand touched Tsunade's shoulder to keep her from fainting.

"How?" Tsunade breathed out, wanting to know what the hell happened while she was away from the village.

"Dumb luck," Sakura snorted, pulling her hand away while she stood up. Turning her back towards the fifth Hokage, she opened the window for fresh air. Folding her arms before her chest she stared out towards the village, while silence crept between them.

Sakura closed her eyes, letting the cool breeze hit her skin. She was still figuring out what happened to her herself. A little girl with black hair and violet eyes came up in her memory. She smiled when she thought back at her. How kind an attitude she had, she'd reminded her of her younger self. So much had happened, she didn't know where to start explaining, hell she'd just come back, was still recovering from the wounds she got one week ago.

Tsunade kept looking at the woman standing before the window. She couldn't help but noticing how different Sakura had become since the last time she had seen her. She stood there with confidence, strength radiating off her even though she was pretty heavily bandaged up. But she had a glow around her, something she couldn't explain but she looked as if she was at peace. The silence was killing her, but she didn't want to rush it either. She knew Sakura would tell her what happened in her own time.

Swinging her legs to the side of the bed, Tsunade stood up. Regaining her balance she walked over to where Sakura was standing, her eyes were still closed and she looked tired. Most of the cuts on her form were already healed, the dried blood which had been sticking on her skin earlier was gone, and bandage was wrapped around her upper body stopping at her waist. Her right arm was bandaged from inches off her shoulder and reaching her hand, while on her left arm the bandages wound from her lower arm and stopped at her wrist, her ANBU tattoo sitting proudly on her left bicep and for a moment Tsunade wished that she hadn't placed it there. If she wasn't ANBU, this wouldn't have happened, she wouldn't have almost died. But then again, Sakura probably would have found another way to get higher up in the ranks. If she had her mind on something, she would go for it and nothing could stop her, Tsunade knew this all to well.

"You need to rest Sakura, you need to recharge your chakra. You can tell me another time what happened."

"Can you at least give me permission to go home?"

"I'll take care of that, but please get some rest."

Sakura nodded, finally turning around to face Tsunade. "Thank you, I'll come to your office tomorrow to hand in my report."

Sakura brushed past her mentor opening the door before she stopped as Tsunade spoke up.

"Welcome home."

"Thank you. It's good to be home."

Sakura walked back towards her own room where Ino was waiting together with her mother. They both looked up when they saw her enter the room, both smiling and the relief radiating off of them in big waves. Sakura smiled inwardly, they really were happy that she was back. Grabbing the shirt Ino was holding out to her she smiled gratefully before putting it on.

"Let's go home."

"I've waited three long weeks to hear that coming out of your mouth Forehead," Ino said smiling. She gave her best friend a hug forcing the tears back which were threatening to fall. "But it was well worth the wait."

Her mother also stood up, smiling at the two girls before her. When Ino let her daughter go, she hugged Sakura herself, her hand stroking her long pink strands of hair while she rested her chin on top of her Sakura's head. She closed her eyes and she felt her daughter relax in her embrace, her arms was wrapped around her middle while her face was pushed into her neck. Her daughter's arms lost their strength and when Hanu pulled back she saw with surprise that her Sakura had fallen asleep.

Shaking her head smiling softly, she stroked her thump against her cheek. Kissing her on her forehead, she placed her arms under her shoulders and knee's before tilting the girl up. Ino opened the door and walked out after Hanu had passed.

Arriving at the Haruno compound Ino opened the door for Hanu to let them in. Laying Sakura down in her old room, Hanu and Ino started to undress the girl before tucking her in bed. Ino decided that it was good for Sakura to stay with her mother for awhile since she still had to work at the flower shop for her parents. Hanu also invited Ino to stay, since they still had a guestroom. Ino happily complied since she really wanted to be close to Sakura while she was recovering and she could still easily get to work from here, as well as be right by Sakura's side anytime she wasn't working.

The next day Sakura showered with the help of her mother before getting her back bandaged up. Dressing herself she grabbed the report she had written yesterday evening before kissing her mother goodbye and walking out the door. While she passed through the streets, she got greeted by everyone that passed by. "Good to see you back Sakura-san"or"Welcome back Sakura-san." Inwardly she smirked, die almost one time and suddenly you're the most popular woman in the village.

Greeting the guards by the Hokage tower with a wave she walked in, knocking on the door and walking in when she heard the grumbled sound of "Enter."

"Good morning Tsunade-sama."

Walking towards her desk, she gave Tsunade the scroll before sitting down in one of the chair's standing before her desk. Tsunade smiled at the girl, lying the scroll down before her and leaning back in her chair.

"I know it's all in the scroll what happened, but I want to hear it from your mouth."

"Of course but before I begin, Daisuke, Renge and Nami are sitting by your opened window. They would be more comfortable on the couch since it will take a while," Sakura said smiling, she had crossed her legs, one arm resting comfortably on her upper left thigh.

The soft sound of "Shit how did she know that?" reached her ears. Shaking her head with amusement she watched her ANBU team climbing into the office and taking their places on the couch behind her. When the office went quiet again Sakura took a deep breath before starting.

"After I used my genjutsu, the one who calls himself Tobi was dead, but the leader Pein was still alive. Since I figured out that I couldn't take him out in my condition I tried get away. He found me though and I lost my mask there. I summoned my last bit of chakra and teleported a few yards from the sight. Can't remember what happened after that but when I woke up, a girl named Akira had taken me into her home. She had taken care of most my wounds and helped me to recover. She told me I'd been unconscious for two weeks. I stayed there for awhile to recover my strength but Pein found me five days after I'd awoken. I killed him though and after that I came here. The rest of the details are in the report."

Tsunade nodded, she grabbed the medical report Shizune had left here earlier on her desk. Scanning through it she sighed before she closed it again. '_She won't like this._'

"I'm taking you off active duty for the next two weeks for your back to recover."

Sakura sighed, already thinking that it would be that way and she began to protest. "But Tsunade-sama.."

"Complain and it will be a month." That kept Sakura's mouth shut.

Turning her attention to the other occupants of the room Tsunade spoke up again. "You three however will be placed under the command of Tenzou. He's waiting for you in the mission debriefing room for your next assignment."

"I'm not going to leave Captain's command," Nami protested. She didn't really like the idea being under another captain.

"Don't worry Nami, it's only until I'm enough recovered. It's only tempory," Sakura spoke up. "Besides I know the new team leader of yours. He's good trust me."

"If you say so Captain," Nami muttered, still not liking the idea. Sakura was her first captain and she felt as if she were betraying her if she was under the command of another captain. But when Sakura placed her hand on her shoulder with a reassuring smile on her face she smiled back. Knowing that when she got back from the mission she was to be going on, Sakura would be right there waiting for them.

Sakura watched while her team walking out of the room before she turned around to face her mentor again. "Anything else you need me for?"

Tsunade shook her head. "No you can go just don't forget the check up with Shizune over two days for your back."

Sakura nodded, saluting before walking out of the office. The day was still young, no upcoming missions for the next two weeks and no team she could torture with training. Sakura sighed, she didn't mind having to relax from time to time and she didn't really mind a break right now.

Teleporting to the memorial stone she kneeled down before it, her eyes following the list of names before she stopped at the one she was searching for. With her thump she traced the letters Hikaru Haruno. She'd always wanted to revenge his death and now she had finally done it, she'd killed the man who took her father away from her.

She stared at the name for awhile and came out her trance when she felt **him** standing behind her. She didn't want to talk to him but she didn't really have a choice, she knew he would find her some day, it had only come sooner then she wanted that was all.

"How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

Sakura stood up turning around to face Kakashi. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For every time that I've done you wrong. You almost got killed because you wanted to save us."

"I was following orders nothing more." Sakura said coldly.

"Still I'm sorry."

"Whatever," Sakura said and wanted to walk away but Kakashi's hand grabbed her, stopping her from leaving.

"I know that we hurt you really bad when we left you behind. I don't know why it happened but it did. First I thought that it wouldn't matter but the team just doesn't feels right without you. I need you Sakura. I realise that now."

Sakura yanked her arm free and glared coldly at the man before her. "What do you want me to do? Leave my own team to join yours again?! You left me Kakashi and I don't need you anymore… any of you! I won't leave my team just because you want me back, forget it!"

"Just give me another chance to be friends with you again."

"And be walked over again?" Sakura huffed, "no thanks!"

"Please Sakura give me another chance to make it up to you," Kakashi pleaded with her.

"Do you know how much it hurt when you three shut me out? **Do** you? I nearly killed myself because it hurt so much. I **loved** you guys with all my heart and gave you all everything I had only to be walked out on! Now guess what Hatake, I'm walking out on you!" Sakura spat angrily before she disappeared in a swirl of petals.

Kakashi stood there frozen. He knew Sakura would be angry but this wasn't what he had in mind. It pained him that he had driven Sakura so far and brought her so much pain that she'd almost killed herself. He really wanted to make it up to her and even though she'd just disappeared on him, he wouldn't give up. He'd already walked out on her before but that wouldn't happen again. He made himself a promise to get Sakura back in their lives, and if Sakura thought he would leave her alone, she was seriously mistaken. '_I'll get you back Sakura, if you want it or not._'

_**To be continued…**_


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Hey again! Sorry it took me so long to update. I didn't know what to write until I finally got some inspiration a few days ago. So here it is, the next chappie :). Thanks for all the reviews, new alerts and favourites. I can't express in words how it makes me feel. Well enough said, I let you wait long enough. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

**Chapter 12:**

"Well Tenzou-sempai, I wish you good luck with this lot," Sakura said smirking while her eyes wandered over the team before her. Her hands were placed on her sides, her pink hair wrapped in a low pony tail and she was currently dressed in her standard jounin uniform.

Tenzou laughed nervously, one of his hands placed behind his head while the other was waving the comment off. "Well I handled Sai and Naruto. These three can't be worse them, can they?"

"You have no idea."

Daisuke let out a gasp, his hand placed over his heart as if he was hurt badly. "Aw captain, that hurt!" he said playfully.

Sakura shook her head at his action, her smirk chancing into a small smile. He was always the one to play along to cheer up the mood. Nami was a bit quieter than before, but she was sure that once she got to know Tenzou better, she would be sure to like him. Renge was still the same, his arms crossed over his chest while he waited to depart, business as usual. Sakura sighed inwardly, even though she would never admit it out loud, she sure was going to miss those three, even if it was only temporary.

"Remember what I taught you guys, I won't be there to safe your asses this time."

Daisuke let his hand fall back to the side, a smile appeared on his face although it went unnoticed since his porcelain mask was in the way. It was Sakura's way of telling them to be careful, and that she cared about them. He gave a nod and a wave before turning around to take off.

Renge followed his example but Nami was still hesitating. Her hands clenched and her head was lowered while she fought off the urge to run to her captain, saying she wouldn't be going and that she was staying with her here in the village. The inner struggle to stay was beginning to win when she flinched as a pair of hands touched her shoulders. Jerking her head up, she saw the smiling face of her captain.

"Don't worry Nami, everything is going to be alright. The mission will be over in no time and I'll be here waiting for you guys to come back."

"You promise?" Nami whispered softly.

"I promise." She replied giving the girl a quick hug, knowing that she needed it before she let her go. Nami was still a bit shocked since Sakura wasn't a hugging person and the red head was grateful that she cared so much.

"Thank you captain."

"It's alright, now go. Your team is waiting."

Nami nodded, her spirits raised while she looked at her captain one more time before turning around to join her team mates.

Sakura smiled giving them a wave while she watched her team disappear into the woods of the fire country, Tenzou in the lead. When she couldn't see them anymore, she turned around and started to make her way back towards the village.

It was still early in the morning and normally Sakura would still be sleeping this hour, but Nami had begged her to see them off and knowing that the girl really needed it, Sakura had come along. Tilting her head upwards, she saw clear blue skies not a cloud in sight, a wonderful sight that let her know that it would be a beautiful day.

She didn't need to be in the hospital for her check up until tomorrow afternoon so she still had a whole day to herself. Passing the training grounds she looked longingly at them, remembering the Tsunade's words all to well. She wasn't allowed to train in the following days, not until Shizune gave her the all clear, and knowing Shizune, her back would be in state of perfection before she was allowed to train again. Normally she would just go against their judgement but this time Tsunade had threatened her with that fact that if she found out that she wasn't obeying Shizune orders she would be kicked out of ANBU immediately and **that** was the last thing Sakura wanted.

Kicking the little stone she found on the ground before her she watched it fly a few yards before it came clattering down again. Another sigh escaped her lips while she pondered over what she could do today. Maybe Ino had a day off and she wanted to go shopping? Or maybe the hot springs would do her some good… and if that wasn't so, maybe her mother wanted some company. Well that could keep her busy for the time being but for two weeks?! Sakura stopped abruptly, her eyes widening with fear. No, she couldn't just do nothing at all for those two weeks. She would go insane! Grabbing her head in her hands, she let out a frustrated groan. Why oh why did she have to go and use that stupid jutsu. An image of the young girl Akira suddenly came to mind, and letting her frustrations drift away completely while she thought back on the memory of the girl. She didn't know why but she felt a strange connection to the child, she just had no idea how that came to be or why. She shrugged it off as the fact that she was an only child like Akira was now, that had to be it.

Unconsciously she had started to walk again and when she looked up she saw that she was by her own apartment once more. Walking up the stairs, she grabbed her keys from her pocket to unlock the door. Her nose twitched when she smelled the freshly baked eggs, bacon and toast that emanated from behind her apartment door. Her stomach started to rumble at the smell reminding Sakura that she hadn't had a decent breakfast before she had gone out. Closing the door behind her she unzipped her jounin vest whilst walking into the kitchen. Her blonde friend was just placing two plates on the table as she entered. She looked up and smiled, giving her a greeting before turning around to turn off the cooker. Sakura shrugged her jounin vest off and hung it over her chair before sitting down.

"So they left today huh?" Ino asked when she sat down herself.

"Yeah, Nami begged me to watch them off. She doesn't really like the idea of going out on a mission without me." Sakura replied, pouring some orange juice in her glass before doing the same for Ino.

"Hmm," Ino muffled, swallowing her bite and taking a sip from her drink. "You know that she totally adores you Sakura. She's sees you as her only rightful captain."

"I know, and I'm flattered that she thinks so highly of me but it's time for her to know that she won't be serving all the time under me. Maybe she'll get an ANBU solo mission and I won't be there then."

"Do you think she's ready for something like that then?"

"Her skills are impressive, but the way she still clings to me or waits for me to give the orders on a mission, well she isn't quite there yet."

Ino nodded, taking another bite of her food while she turned her head slightly upwards to look at the clock hanging on the wall. Noticing her glancing Sakura swallowed her own food before speaking up again.

"Do you need to go somewhere today?"

"I promised my mother I would take care of the flower shop today."

"Alright, if you're done eating I'll clean up and stuff. I've nothing to do anyway."

Ino smiled gratefully, drinking up her orange juice before standing up.

"Thanks Sakura, I'll see you tonight then."

Sakura nodded, waving at the girl while she continued to eat. Well it seemed that she would be spending today with her mother then. Taking another bite she pondered thoughtfully what she wanted to do with her mother. Sure her mother's tea was the best she ever tasted, and they always talked a lot but that only kept her busy for about 3 hours max. Standing up she carefully stretched herself. Man her back felt stiff. Suddenly her eyes gleamed happily and a small smile crept onto her features. Her mother gave the best massages ever.

Grabbing the dishes she started to clean them and place them on the sideboard to dry. When she was finally done with that, she walked into the bathroom for a quick shower before taking off towards her parent's house. This time the streets were filled with parents walking their children towards school, merchants setting up their stalls for the upcoming day.

Walking onto her mother's veranda she knocked on the door three times before stepping back. She didn't have to wait long, her mother appearing in the door opening moments after she knocked. Sakura smiled and gave her a slight wave. Her mothers' eyes lit up when she saw her daughter and quickly stepped back to let her in.

"Good morning Sakura, to what do I owe you this visit?"

"Is it a crime for a daughter to visit her mother?" Sakura asked back teasingly. They made their way towards the living room, Sakura sitting on the couch while her mother walked off towards the kitchen to make some tea.

"No but you only come here when you announce that you leave on a long term mission or at any mission at all for that matter so seeing as that's not it is there something troubling you."

"It's nothing like that mother, I just came by to visit," Sakura said. "And I was hoping for a massage is another reason," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that dear? I didn't quite hear the last thing you said," Hanu said while she handed a tea cup to her daughter before taking her place next to her.

"I said that the garden looks lovely." Sakura wrapped her finger around the cup, the warmth already starting to sink into her skin and ease a few aches. Holding it close to her face she sniffed the fresh aroma of lemon tea, her favourite. Taking a tiny sip she savoured the taste before swallowing the liquid, then placed her cup on the table before turning slightly on the couch to look at her mother.

"Ah yes, the roses blossomed quite lovely this year just like the Delonix regias. But I must say, the Sakura tree still wins from all the flowers I have in the garden." Sakura smiled, picking up her cup once more for taking a sip. Her mother was always fond of flowers, she could spend hours in the garden just looking at them to admire their beauty. She was called Sakura not only because of the pink hair she'd inherited from her grandmother but also because Sakura blossoms were her mothers favourite flowers.

"Now is there something you wish to tell me, Saku-chan?" Her mother smiled above her tea. Glancing towards her mother Sakura lowered her tea cup towards her lap. When her mother started to use her nickname she'd given her when she was young, Sakura knew she meant business.

"You really know me far to well mother."

"Of course I'm your mother. You're an open book to me."

Sakura snorted, her head shaking softly while her smile widened. Thinking back to all the visits she'd paid her mother, she always knew when something was bothering her, and she always got close to the reason of just what it was. Her mother was right, she **was** an open book to her. A comfortable silence stretched between them, with Sakura gazing into the garden while her mother studied her daughter's features.

"Is your frustration that you can't train for two weeks or is it something else bothering you?"

"Both."

"Has that something to do with your former team?"

Silence was the only response.

Hanu sighed, putting down her now empty cup before regarding her daughter carefully once again. She knew what had happened four years ago and it had taken a lot of effort on both her and Ino's part to bring a bit of the old Sakura back. But even now the demons of her past were still haunting her and she refused to acknowledge them. Hanu understood the pain Sakura had gone through and she still did, but she knew it wasn't good for Sakura to always hold a grudge against them. It was time for her to move on and forgive them, put it all behind her. But Sakura of course was stubborn as a mule just like her father and held on to the fact she didn't need them which prevented her from moving on. But when she looked deep inside her daughter darkened gaze she could see the pain and the fear swirling in those dark depths. She was afraid to love them again, afraid to get stepped on just like before and… left behind.

"I know it hurts Sakura and I know that you're afraid, but you can't hold a grudge against them forever, you know that, I know you do."

"Can we please change the subject?"

"Sakura…"

"Mother, please!" Sakura yelled out. She jumped off the couch as if she it had burnt her and walked away. "I don't want to talk about them." Her voice broke, just barely above a whisper.

Hanu stood up, walking towards her daughter and pulling her against her chest while she hugged her from behind. She brushed some strands away from her face before kissing her on her head. "You know you have to forgive them someday to be able to move on."

"I know but I **can't** forgive them. Maybe someday I'll get over it and be able to forgive them and then again maybe not. Please just drop it."

Her mother nodded, knowing that she had hit a very tender spot. Brushing more strands away she let her chin rest atop of her daughters head.

This was so not what Sakura had planned to do, luckily her mother dropped the topic then, knowing not to bring it up for the following weeks. They turned back to the happier topics and Hanu convinced Sakura to stay for lunch. Both were now sitting on the back yard veranda that looked over the garden. After lunch Sakura helped with the dishes before she finally received the massage she'd hoped for from her mother.

Two hours later, Sakura walked out of the house refreshed, and having already half forgotten the conversation she'd with her mother in the morning. Waving her mother goodbye she decided to go and give Ino some company at the flower shop. But when she was just about to walk into the store, she saw Genma leaning against the counter teasingly, while his chocolate brown eyes were locked with the blue ones of her best friend. They seemed to be having a good time and Sakura quickly walked on before either of them noticed her standing there. Even though Genma hit on her, and quite a lot actually she knew that he really had a huge soft spot for her best friend.

Wondering what to do, she finally settled on the idea of catching up on her reading, in her favourite reading spot. Teleporting back home, she grabbed her book and also the next volume before setting of towards the outlying borders of Konoha. There was some chance that some rogue nin or possible even bandits would pass by but none of them were stupid enough to challenge somebody like her. And if they were she could handle them easily and she had the excuse to use her fighting skills so it was all good as far as she was concerned.

Walking up her favourite tree, she settled down on a thick branch that let her overlook the whole village that lay on her left side and on her right the beautiful lake that was surrounded by trees and the flower fields.

Sighing happily for the first time that day, she leaned against the bark of the tree, one leg in a bent up position while the other dangled happily in the air. Even though it looked like she was oblivious of the world around her, she was still completely on her guard, hearing and sensing every little vibe in the area.

She sat there for what seemed like hours, but her eyes narrowed slightly when a familiar chakra signature appeared in the clearing. Cursing inwardly she decided to ignore his presence completely in the hopes he would take the hint and continued reading her book. Even when he stopped on the branch below her, she didn't twitch or change her posture. He seemed like he was hesitating, but not for long since he hopped onto the same branch, standing right before her.

She still didn't look up to acknowledge his presence, which what was bothering him the most. He had been searching for her since he had woken up and had only found her when Izumo helped him out. And now that he'd finally found her, she was acting as if he didn't exist… again. Well if she wanted to play that game, so would he. Kakashi lowered himself down on the branch, both of his legs dangling over the edge while his right hand held the branch they were sitting on.

The silence was unnerving him, slowly breaking him so far into pieces that he wanted to scream. They sat like this for what seemed hours more, and looking at the position the sun was standing in now, they **had** sat here for quit a bit.

Only when it started to shimmer and sink lower, and the only noise between them was the rustle of pages being flipped over, did Sakura finally close her book. She lowered her book in her lap and looked at Kakashi as if she had only noticed him just now.

"What do you want?" Sakura finally spoke up.

'_Well it's a start,_' Kakashi sighed inwardly and cracked his knuckles on the hand he'd been holding the branch with all along to get some feeling back in them.

"I was wondering if you wanted to eat some ramen with me."

"No thanks." Sakura was standing up, putting her book safe into her pouch before stretching her arms a little.

"Do you want to grab a drink?"

"No."

"I didn't really have the chance to talk to you that well the other day. I was hoping we could talk some more."

Sakura sighed deeply annoyed, her angry glare fixed on the silver haired man next to her. "Don't you have to go see Sasuke or Naruto or something?"

"Naruto is hanging out with Hinata more now a days and well Sasuke, I don't really like to go to jails you know?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at this. Sasuke was in jail? What has he done this time? She mentally made a note to ask Shizune about that later, seeing as she would see her tomorrow anyway when she had her check up.

"So instead you decided to bother me? Nice…"

"Well not exactly 'bother' more seek out a long lost friend and wanting to talk to them."

"Well good luck finding your long lost friend then. I hate to hold up your search." And with that she jumped off the branch, landing gracefully on the ground without a sound before starting to make her way back to the village. In her head she was cursing the man. How could he say that to her? Long lost friend, my ass!

Her eye twitched dangerously when moments later a poof smoke appeared next to her and a smiling Kakashi was walking next to her once again.

"Ah there you are, I've been looking all over for you, you know. You know I met somebody that just looked just like you but she didn't really have your charm so I realised it couldn't be you. But then lo and behold here you are! So want to get something to drink or eat so we can catch up?"

Sakura stopped walking, her anger growing with every minute. Her hands clenched into fists and her teeth gritted together hard.

"Leave. Me. The. Hell. Alone!" Sakura spat out while glaring daggers at the man before her. Man if looks could kill, Kakashi would have met his end in a horrible and painful way and he could tell that easily.

He swallowed heavily and looked quite uncomfortably at the woman before him, hand reaching up to scratch the back of his head and neck in that way he always did when he got slightly nervous. Man that glare put Tenzou's creepy stare to shame! Maybe this wasn't the best approach to get closer to the girl, but he couldn't think of any other way. So he stubbornly stood there, knowing that one wrong move could mean his end or send him to the hospital but if that meant he got her to listen to him, he would.

"C'mon Sakura it's just one drink, my treat. You can leave whenever you want but please can you grant this old man just one drink with you?"

"Fine! One drink and then leave me the hell alone."

Kakashi smiled. "Of course Sakura," _'For today anyway.' _He added silently in his head as his eye crinkled into that familiar smile.

_***_

Ino jumped up from shock when the door was thrown open. A furious Sakura stormed in slamming the door closed before cursing the whole way to her bedroom and then slamming that door behind her. The blonde swallowed nervously, wondering what the hell had happened to wind the pink haired medic up quite so much. She walked closer towards her door, her hand lifting up in the air to grab the knob. But the sounds of things crashing on the ground, her loud curses that would put a sailor to shame made her drop the hand. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bother Sakura now. She would talk her about it in the morning when hopefully she would have a far less murderous disposition. She quickly turned away from the door and walked to the front door to lock it before slipping into her own bedroom, thoughts still resting on her angry best friend.

***

Shizune wasn't a person who was scared easily by other people, after all considering just whom her sensei was, the blonde Hokage was the only one who could scare her. But when Sakura walked into her office with a kill-all-around-me-and-destroy-every-last-part-of-them aura around her as if she could kill anyone by just looking at them, even the poison mistress broke her into sweat.

"Good afternoon, Sakura-san," She said nervously whilst trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

Sakura nodded her head once in greeting. She unzipped her jounin vest and threw it on the couch in the corner. Lifting up her shirt she threw it in the corner as well before placing herself on the examination table.

"Everything alright Sakura?" Shizune dared to speak out. She slowly came closer to the girl, afraid as if she had possibly said something wrong by asking that question and the other medic would attack her any moment now. But Sakura sat still, her cold look glaring daggers straight ahead of her and not actually fixed upon the brunette.

"I hate men! Especially ones that wear a stupid mask all the time and deliberately get on your nerves! Does he really like to irritate me **that** much?!"

"I assume this is about Kakashi then." Shizune replied as her hands started to undo the bandages around Sakura's body and slowly she took in the sight of the big wound in front of her. It began in the middle of her right shoulder blade and travelled to the left side, stopping mere inches from her waist. The middle the wound was pretty deep, the brunette guessed if it were any deeper, it would definately have damaged her spine.

"He's been bothering me since yesterday and he won't leave me the hell alone! Always coming up with excuses to talk to me and just argh! He's so annoying!"

Flashback

"_Thanks for the drink but I'm leaving," Sakura said. She'd sat there for a half hour so she was rather proud of herself that she could stand to be around him that long. She had answered a few questions he had asked her, but nothing more then a yes or a no response. Sometimes even using the sentence, "That's none of your business."_

"_Alright, thank you for fulfilling this old man's wishes."_

_Sakura rolled her eyes at his comment and zipped her jounin vest up she had slipped it off previously because it was pretty warm in the bar. She was about to turn around and walk away when his next sentence had her stopping dead in her tracks._

"_See you tomorrow."_

_She turned around, her eyes already narrowed dangerously when she looked at the man before her. "You promised to leave me the hell alone after one drink."_

"_For the rest of the day yes I did. What didn't I mention that part?" He scratched his head and smiled innocently. "Must have slipped my mind, so sorry."_

_Sakura was seeing red at that point, a scowl plastered across her features and she disappeared in a swirl of petals. If she stayed any longer she would have seriously injured the man._

Flashback

"Aren't men always?" Shizune muttered. She started to concentrate some chakra in her hand and placed in carefully on Sakura's back. After doing some tests she wrapped the wound with new bandages before turning around to write her findings down on the report.

Sakura stood up herself walking towards the couch to get dressed again. "How long will it take till I can train again?" she asked without turning around.

"Well I want to make another appointment in seven days, same time. For now I want you to rest, so no training or anything which could slow down the progress."

Sakura sighed, well there went her idea to go train… again. Turning around she thanked Shizune and started to walk towards the door before something came to mind.

"Is something wrong Sakura?"

"I've heard rumours that Sasuke's in jail. Is that true?"

"Unfortunately it is." Shizune lowered her head keeping her gaze from Sakura's.

"May I ask why?"

"The mission where you needed to save them, well… he was the one who gave away their position. He made a deal with the Akatsuki, a trade if you will, Kakashi and Naruto in for return his brother."

Sakura's eyes widened at the remark. He did what? Why would he do that kind of thing? She was lost in thought, trying to find out why he would do that and just what the hell had been going through his head. She thought that those two meant everything to him. She didn't like it at all. Sure she hated them, but she never wished for this to occur, those three were like Siamese twins or something! Did he even know the consequences of what would have happened if she had failed to save them? They would have lost two great ninja and would have brought Konoha in danger, hell maybe even all other hidden villages that didn't pair up with Akatsuki as well!

"Do you know how long ago he made that deal?"

"Yes, four years ago."

_**To be continued…**_


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews, it always cheers me up. Welcome to the new readers btw, I'm glad you like the story so much and I hope not to disappoint you in any way. This one is a bit short, my apologies.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 13:**

Shizune looked up when she heard no response. She found herself alone in her office and the pink haired girl she had been talking to not a moment ago was already completely out of sight.

"Did I say something wrong?" Shizune muttered to herself confused.

She shrugged it off that Sakura had probably forgotten something, something that she needed to do with urgency. She grabbed the report to do with Sakura's health and started to make her way towards Hokage tower.

'_Four years ago._' That was the thought that rang through Sakura's mind over and over again at lighting speed. The moment Shizune had said those words, her eyes had widened immensely. Four years ago was when it had happened, and she didn't know why but her instincts were telling her that Sasuke had something to do with Team 7 leaving her behind.

She leapt over the roofs, straight towards the outlying borders of Konoha. She waved at one of the guards standing there before leaping over the wall itself and continuing on her way through the forest. She needed to talk to Sasuke, she needed to know why he did it and if it had anything to do with the painful event of all three of them leaving her. She needed answers now, and only the soul surviving member of the Uchiha clan could give them to her.

Pushing more muscles into her jump she moved faster. Sure, they told her not to train, but this **was** an emergency and Tsunade would agree whole heartedly when she knew the truth about the decisions of Sasuke and the events surrounding team 7's abandoning of her.

She smiled a small smile in relief when she saw the prison coming up on the horizon. It would only take another few minutes before she reached the imposing building. When she came to the gates she dropped down to the ground, right in front of one of the guards standing watch there. The man jumped slightly, his eyes flying over the form before him. Only when he saw the konoha headband wrapped around her upper arm did he relax completely once more.

"Name and rank please."

"Sakura Haruno, ANBU captain of squad 2 and former apprentice of the Hokage."

The man nodded, writing it down on the report in his hands before opening the gates.

"Whom do you wish to see Haruno-san?"

"I'm here for Sasuke Uchiha," Sakura replied, as she walked in and waited for the guard to close the gates before showing her the way to the Uchiha's cell. Following many corridors and walking off couple of stairs, they finally halted in front of a barred cell.

It was dark and at the first sight you would think nobody was in there. But if you looked closer, you would just see in the darkest corner the outline of a body sitting in a meditative position. His eyes were closed, and only if you listened really hard could you hear his slow, steady breathing.

"Leave us," Sakura said sharply to the man beside her, not taking her eyes away from the person in the corner. The guard was about to protest but the deadly aura around the girl who stood next to him, told him that she would be fine on her own and that it could possible lead to a world of pain on his behalf if he didn't do as she insisted. With a quick bow he left, turning sharply on his heels and walking back to the entrance.

Sakura grabbed the chair that stood in the corner of the hall, dragging it back to the opening of Sasuke's cell before halting. Setting the chair down with a hard thud, Sakura seated herself upon it. Her arms crossed over each other and she crossed her right leg over the left one. With her emerald eyes glinting in the dull light she started to take in Sasuke's appearance. His hair was still just as she remembered, his clothes were filthy and his feet were bare. Sasuke opened his eyes, jet black orbs staring at the girl sitting in front of his cell. He remained silent, simply observing the situation and waiting for Sakura to start talking.

They sat like that for what seemed like hours, none of them making any kind of unexpected move, just simply staring at each other in silence. Sakura briefly closed her eyes, trying to get control over her thoughts. She wanted to know so many things, but she had to seem oblivious to the information she had already gained. And if her suspicions were true, Sasuke wouldn't admit it openly. He would only confirm it if her question about it came at the most unexpected time, when he didn't see it coming and that was kind of hard to get one past the Uchiha but Sakura was smart. She knew she could manage it.

"I see the rumors I heard were true. You **are** in jail," Sakura said, her eyes snapping open and locking with the coal coloured ones staring right back at her.

"Hn."

"Why?"

"I betrayed the village."

Sakura sighed. "I know why you sit here. I wanted to know why you would trade Kakashi and Naruto for Itachi."

"…"

"I thought they meant everything for you. Why stab them in the back a second time when they opened their arms wide to when you returned accepting you back without missing a heartbeat?"

"I wanted revenge for my clan Sakura. You should know that."

Sakura rolled her eyes, leaning back against her chair. "If you're going to give me all that 'Once an avenger always an avenger' crap, I'm getting in your cell to kick your butt personally."

"Hn." Which translated to 'I'd like to see you try it.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and she glared slightly.

"You still haven't answered my question. Why turn them in when they are like family to you?"

"Because I can't rest until Itachi is dead by my own hands. And if that meant I'd have to give up my team mates I would gladly do so time and time again."

"Then why did you kick me out of the team?" Sakura asked sharply, watching Sasuke's body language like a hawk that had spotted the perfect mouse for dinner and was tracking its every move.

His body stiffened and his eyes widened in shock. Did she know? Sasuke shifted nervously and swallowed uncomfortably. He watched her sceptically, her eyes were watching him closely observing every thing she could, which meant she was testing a theory. And knowing that she watched his every move, he just gave her the information that she wanted, she'd know if he was lying that much was clear. The hatred filled glare fixed on him confirmed his suspicions. He swept his hand through his hair, wondering how he would get himself out of this one. He decided to keep silent and let Sakura ask all the questions. Maybe than he could keep his feelings for the girl secret, he doubted it but there was a slim chance that it would work.

His body language said everything she wanted to know. So he was the reason she was kicked out of team 7! But why? How did he get Kakashi and Naruto along to leave her behind? Did they really care about her? So many questions swirled around in her head, one coming up after the other until they were all pretty much intertwined and muddled. But the one that shone above the others, the one that hurt her the most was the one where she'd thought wouldn't hurt he so much anymore. Did Kakashi and Naruto care at all about her? If they let Sasuke kick her out of the team that was pointing out that they didn't surely.

Flashback:

"_I need you Sakura. I realise that now."_

Flashback

She unconsciously clenched her hands tightly at the thought. Was Kakashi just playing with her feelings? Or did he really mean it? Well if he let Sasuke kick her out of the team, he was probably just joking, playing with her as he always seemed to do with everyone. She grits her teeth together as a wave of anger filled her senses. She thought they would have changed. The way Kakashi desperately tried to get back talking with her made her think that maybe he did care. But now she wasn't so sure anymore. What if he only did it to get her hurt again? Laughing behind her back at how stupid she was to fall into the same trap and let her fall down again as if it was nothing? She turned her head slightly down, her eyes squeezed shut against the tears that threatened to fall. No, she couldn't trust anyone anymore, she wouldn't love that way anymore because in the end you only get trampled on, laughed about behind your back. To trust them that much to give them so much only to be thrown away like trash, no she couldn't love anymore. She didn't want to and worse she didn't even know how to anymore. It was all in her past and she was different now, stronger, hard and unforgiving. She couldn't love anybody anymore except her mother and Ino. They were to only ones close enough to know the real Sakura and she knew this was how it should stay to prevent herself from being hurt anymore.

Taking a deep breath she tried to calm herself. She couldn't jump into conclusions just yet. But still, I might be better off knowing nothing about it. What if it was she the way she feared? That she was just being played and they merely acted that they cared about her still? She didn't know if she could handle that. She hesitated, chewing on her lower lip like she always did when she was worried or couldn't make a decision.

The sound of somebody grabbing the steel bars and steel hitting steel made her jerk up her head, staring straight into Sasuke's face. His dark eyes that normally looked so cold and hard were now looking at her with sympathy. Sakura didn't know why but it only made her angrier. How dare he take sympathy on her! She didn't need it, didn't need him and his stupid pity. She didn't need anyone! She stood up angrily, her chair toppling over with the movement while she glared hard at the man before her.

"Stop looking at me like that!" She spat out with venom.

Sasuke drew back startled at the way she spoke. He had hated to see her looking so utterly lost moments before. She'd already figured out that it was his fault that she was pushed out of the team, that much was obvious to him. But she still didn't know the reason why he had done it and why Kakashi and Naruto had agreed with it. A little plan formed into his head. If he couldn't get Sakura back, no one could have her. He smirked inwardly, watching the furious kunoichi on the other side of the steel bars.

"Like what?" He asked carefully.

"Like you feel sympathy for me. I don't need it!"

Sasuke shook his head barely noticeably. He didn't want Sakura to see his movement otherwise he's life would be a hell lot shorter. She really wasn't the girl he'd thought she was. But this stronger side of Sakura was something to admire, and if he could bring back the loving side of the girl he'd once known she would make the perfect candidate to revive his clan with after he killed his brother.

"Hn."

Sakura ignored him, she started to pace up and down in front of his cell, trying to control her growing temper. "Why did you do it?"

Sasuke simply looked at her questionably, his mouth firmly shut. Sakura waited for a few minutes, but when no answer came, she fiercely grabbed the bars of Sasuke's cell, and the cold steel groaned at the aggressive hold she had on the metal.

"The deal about trading Kakashi and Naruto for your brother, did you make it four years ago?"

"Hn."

"Yes or no asshole!"

Sasuke sighed annoyed, but if she wanted a yes or no answer she would get it. "Yes."

Sakura released the bars and started pacing again.

"Is that the reason you pushed me out of the team?"

Silence was the answer to that question.

Sakura turned around, fire burning in her eyes. "Tell me!"

"Yes."

"Did Kakashi and Naruto agree with pushing me out of the team?"

"Yes." Sasuke stated, a sadistic smirk on his face.

Sakura held in the scream which was threatening to erupt but just barely. So Kakashi was just playing with her again. She should have guessed it! She'd hoped deep in her heart that maybe that he needed her for real, but now she knew it was just a stupid game. She snorted, well she wouldn't fall for it this time.

"Why did you do it?" Sakura suddenly asked. No trace of anger left in her voice anymore. She just wanted to know why he wanted to cause her so much pain.

Sasuke turned away his head, he didn't really wanted to answer that one. Sakura said nothing, her back was turned towards him. She waited for a couple of minutes before she sighed. She started to walk away when she caught his voice, so soft it was barely audible.

"Because I love you."

Sakura eyes widened for the second time that day in stupefied shock. No… way. She twirled around, looking into his eyes and what she saw there told her he was telling the truth. She'd waited so long to hear those words coming out of his mouth. But now she didn't know what to do with them.

"You pushed me out of the team because you love me?" she asked unbelieving.

Sasuke nodded, turning his head so he didn't have to look at her when he spoke the next words. It was really hard for him to speak out how he was feeling, Uchiha's didn't do feelings, he'd been taught that early on. Itachi as the prime example of that and it took all he had to get what he telling her out. Swallowing the lump in his throat and tried to keep his voice steady before he started to talk.

"When I made the deal, I didn't want you to get killed. I wanted to keep you safe so I needed to push you out of the team so I could guarantee your safety."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears. He was confessing that he cared about her, that he… he loved her! She shook her head. No she was not going there again. She was over him now. When they'd dragged him back home she already viewed him as a lost brother, no longer a love interest. And now all those years later after she'd clung to him so desperately, hoping to hear those words, and now they meant nothing to her.

She turned around and started to walk away. Sasuke heard her footsteps removing herself from the cell. He got up quickly, clinging to the bars while he yelled out her name.

"Sakura! Tell me that you love me."

Sakura stopped. Not turning around to face him as she spoke. "If I told you that, it would be an empty lie. I don't love anyone, I can't even remember **how** to love. Not the way you want me to. Besides," she started, looking over her shoulder with eyes as cold as the steel bars he gripped so tightly. "I can't love somebody who is responsible for all the pain in my life nor can I care for someone who is a traitor to his friends. How would I know that you wouldn't simply trade me if you set your mind on revenge once more?"

With that she started to walk away again. Closing the door behind her, she knew a lot more of what happened four years ago and why now. But if could she forgive the other two? Not when she knew they'd readily agreed to push her away. But the only thing that didn't make sense is how could they agree with pushing her away without being suspicious of his actions? She sighed, she needed to think and reorganise the thoughts in her head. _'Maybe a long, hot bath would do me some good._'

_**To be continued…**_


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I got some questions why Sakura believed Sasuke when he told her they agreed of leaving her behind. If you're left behind by your best friends, for reasons you don't know yourself. You start to doubt yourself, and the relationships you had with them. That's why Sakura reacted that way. Hope I explained is so good enough. If not, feel free to ask. Personally, i think this chappie sucks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 14:**

Kakashi didn't know what he'd done wrong but all the progress he'd been starting to make with Sakura had suddenly vanished the next day. First she was only annoyed by his presence and threw a rude comment at his head for time to time, but still she did talk to him, went to a bar with him and even once she'd gone to Ichiraku for lunch with him. But today when he tried to greet her as he saw her walking through the streets, a cold hearted glare was fixed upon him before she disappeared in a swirl of petals. He scratched his head confused, wondering just what happened to make her react in that way.

He'd talked to her before she went to her check-up with Shizune and hadn't seen her for the rest of the day. He didn't know what had happened during that time, but he knew one thing…. He would find out what it was that had caused such a blow to his progress with Sakura. He tried to ask her what was wrong, but she disappeared when he found her and had masked her chakra since then so he couldn't find her any longer. He'd also tried to hunt her down with Pakkun, but when he came close Pakkun suddenly stopped, saying that her scent disappeared and was now in a totally different location. He stopped his attempts after that, it was clear she didn't want him anywhere near her.

So he moved on to plan B, he tried talking to Hanu. She greeted him warmly and let him in. Drinking a cup of tea together he tried to gain information from her mother. All that he found out was that she came her regularly to get her back massaged and spend time with her mother. She hadn't noticed any difference in her. The only thing was that she was more silent than before, seemed more lost in her own thoughts. Hanu had shrugged it off as her daughter thinking about how her team was doing.

He thanked her mother for the tea and for her time before he went out again none the wiser. He'd tried to talk with Ino, but she was unusually cold towards him. Not that they were ever friends or anything but still she acted different with him, cold hearted and angry as a stirred up hornet. He guessed she had talked to Sakura and what ever it was that the pink haired medic had gotten into her mind. Ino clearly believed her and that was the reason for the new treatment he received from her.

Now that plan B had failed also, he decided he had no choice but to go to plan C. A week had already had passed and he only had one more week time before Sakura was declared healthy to go on missions again. That might get in the way just a bit and another thing was that her new team would come back from their mission then to. And if they were to hang around her he could say goodbye to his plan to get Sakura back.

So that was the reason he stood there in front of he hospital. The place he hated the most of all. Pushing his feelings away, he took a deep breath before walking in through the main entrance. Walking up to the front desk, he saw a girl lazily flipping through a magazine whilst her feet rested on the lower desk. Her blond hair was pulled into a bun and held together by a few pencils sticking out of it.

Kakashi coughed slightly, earning him the attention of the girl. She placed her feet back on the ground and closed the magazine. She laid it down on the desk in front of her while a blush stained her cheeks.

"How can I help you sir?" She asked in a small voice.

"I'd like to know if Shizune is in the building."

"Yes, she is in her office right now. Second floor, third hall to the left and sixth door to the right."

"Thank you, have a nice day."

The girl smiled. "Same to you sir," she chirped happily and she then watched him walk away towards the stairs.

Finally arriving at the office he'd been directed to, he knocked three times and waited. Upon hearing the 'come in,' he opened the door and walked inside closing it behind him. He saw the look of surprise he got from Shizune but of course it was not very day that the copy nin would walk into your office, in the hospital no less, the one place he avoided like a plague.

"Kakashi-san, what a surprise!" Shizune said, recovering from her shock and realising she was being rude. She stood up quickly, her eyes scanning his body for any injury he might have.

"Hello to you to Shizune-san. I'm not injured," he quickly added, seeing her observing gaze fixed on him. "I'm here to talk about Sakura."

"Oh alright good, take a seat if you'd like." Shizune said, relieved that he wasn't hurt or anything. Not that she minded treating him but well he had a record of pissing the medic's off who were assigned to him or else scaring them shitless.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, no thanks," Kakashi replied smiling, the crinkling of his right eye the indication of such a facial expression.

Shizune nodded, seating herself back in her chair and placed a marker on the page she was currently looking at before closing the report she had been working on. She planted her elbows on her desk, her fingers entwined and her chin nearly touching her knuckles. "So what do you want to know about Sakura?"

"How's her back coming along?"

Shizune smiled, leaning back in her chair a little. "It's healing well. If she keeps resting like she's been doing, than she could be on missions again in no time."

"Sakura will be glad to hear that news," Kakashi said, crossing his legs and resting his hands on the top.

"I also wanted to know what you said to her at her last check-up. I don't know why but she's been acting different ever since."

Shizune's eyebrow raised, as she looked at him confused. "She is?" She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, thinking back to the conversation she'd had with the pink haired kunoichi almost a week ago. Recalling the event she noticed how strange it seemed that Sakura had immediately left. Maybe it had something to do with that?

"I told her that Sasuke was in jail for his betrayal. That he wanted to trade you and Naruto for his brother then she asked me how long ago he'd made that deal and I told her four years ago."

Kakashi nodded. "What happened after that?"

"Nothing," Shizune shrugged. "She was gone the moment I said four years ago. I don't know where she went after that."

"Hmm. I thank you for your information." Kakashi stood up and gave a slight wave. "Have a nice day Shizune-san." Then he disappeared in a poof smoke.

Shizune blinked, coughing slightly and now seeing the empty office again. "You're welcome," She muttered to no one in particular. She rolled closer to her desk, grabbing the report she had been working on and resuming her work.

Kakashi appeared at his favourite thinking spot, the Hokage monument. He sighed, sitting down on the edge and looking over the village. What had pissed Sakura off so much? Hadn't she known that Sasuke had betrayed them once again? Probably not he guessed. When she came back after three weeks of absence, a lot had happened. When she turned up at her own funeral she hadn't much time to talk at all. One moment she stood there and was promptly hugged tightly by her best friend and then minutes later she'd been transported to the hospital. So she couldn't have known really.

Was it because she found out about the trade Sasuke had agreed to, he and Naruto for Itachi? No, that couldn't be it either. She would be very mad at Sasuke, not at him since he was one of the victims in that particular episode. He really didn't understand what was so bad, what had happened four years ago. What was… Oh no! His eye widened and he gasped. That couldn't be it right? He quickly started to calculate, only to have his eye widen further in shock once again. It was the year Sakura stopped meeting them anymore, stopped talking to them anymore, the year where she was reassigned from team 7 and placed under the Hokage's full care.

The pieces finally started to fall into place. Now he knew what had happened, well mostly anyway. He quickly glanced up into the sky, it was around an hour or two since he'd left Shizune's office. He stood up, jumping off the monument and started to make his way to the prison. The deal Sasuke had made was connected to the reason why Sakura was pushed out of the team. But why Sasuke had done it and how, that was what he was going to find out.

He nodded at Izumo who stood guard by the gates before leaving the village. He took off and a half hour later, he stopped in front of the gates to the prison. The guard on duty wrote his name on the paper before letting him in. Another guard came up to the entrance and spoke to Kakashi.

"How can I help you Hatake-san?"

"I want to go to Sasuke Uchiha's cell."

The man nodded, beckoning him to follow him. While they walked through the corridors the man spoke up. "You're not the first one to visit this guy."

"Oh? Who was the first?" Kakashi asked, already having somebody in mind and wanting to know if his assumptions were correct.

"That pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura was her name. She made quite an impact on him."

"How so?" Kakashi asked curious. He'd already thought that Sakura was the one visiting him and now he knew that was right. So something he had said to her made her act this way towards him now and he wanted to know what it was.

"When the girl left, he didn't want to eat or anything. Just kept yelling at Keiro-san to fuck off and leave him alone."

"Ah."

They walked for a few more minutes before they stopped in front Sasuke's cell. The guard turned to Kakashi saying that if he needed anything he should just yell and he'd come. After that he turned around and started to walk away.

Kakashi waited until the man was out of sight before he turned his head to look into the cell. Sasuke was sitting on the only chair in the cell, his legs stretched out before him and his hands behind his head, his eyes were closed. Never of them said anything, Kakashi simply gazing at him, while Sasuke didn't move a muscle.

"I wondered when you would be visiting me," Sasuke started, opening his eyes and turning his head slightly to look at Kakashi.

"Why did you make that deal?" Kakashi asked. His voice was calm but his eyes looked at him hard and cold.

"I won't pass up a chance to revenge my clan."

"By trading us for your brother?"

"Hn."

"Tell me, are you the reason why Sakura was pushed out of the team?"

"You're just as guilty as me when it comes to Sakura being pushed out of the team Kakashi."

"How did you do it?" Kakashi grunted out angrily. It was very unusual for him to lose his control, but Sasuke had managed the unthinkable because his control was starting to slip. All that anger he'd kept to himself and all self hate over the fact that Sakura was out of their lives, blaming himself for all the things that had happened was coming out and it was directed straight at the Uchiha.

Sasuke said nothing, still smirking while not moving a muscle. It only made Kakashi angrier. He grabbed the bars and his hated glare was fixed upon his former student.

"TELL ME!"

"Why do you want to know if she doesn't mean anything to you in the first place."

This shocked Kakashi greatly. What did he mean by that? He cared about Sakura a great deal, so why did he say he didn't? He let the bars go, his thoughts racing through his head. It **wasn't** true, it **couldn't** be true. He knew his own feelings better than Sasuke did right? Yes that was it, he was just lying.

"You're lying!"

"What good would it do to me if I was lying to you?" Again a question that threw Kakashi off balance. What **did **Sasuke gain if he told him that? Nothing.

"It's not true. It's not," He kept whispering to himself.

Sasuke however kept staring at Kakashi. He knew he was making him confused more than ever, and he was enjoying every minute of it. But he wasn't lying it was half true. The genjutsu he'd used would only work if the people being placed under it didn't care for the person to much. Well not more than he did, thinking back at the hidden token he had worn under his shirt. The persons being placed under it must not have a strong connection with the person the user wanted them to forget. In the beginning they would still talk to said person but slowly they would just forget all about them.

"You know the genjutsu I used on you and Naruto to forget her. You're the one who showed it once to me, and you know as well as I do what that means."

Kakashi stopped whispering, he did indeed know what that meant. It meant he didn't care for her. But then why did it hurt so much? He turned around and started to walk away unable to deal with this anymore. And besides, he'd got one of the answers he came looking for. He'd even forgot the other reason he was there.

That night he couldn't sleep. He kept tossing and turning in his bed. The conversation between him and Sasuke was still fresh in his mind, and was not letting him sleep anytime soon. He didn't care for her. Well that was what the jutsu made him believe, but he was so sure that he did care! Otherwise he wouldn't keep trying to get her back right?

The genjutsu would only work if the person being placed under it didn't have strong connections with the person the user wanted them to forget which didn't make sense to Kakashi, he knew for sure he viewed her as a well trusted companion, one of his best friends. That was a strong bond so that just didn't fit and what about Naruto, he forgot her too and he saw her as family, the second strongest bond to exist besides the bond of true love, the highest level bond.

His eye widened suddenly, and jerking up from his bed he walked towards the closet where he kept his well worn Icha Icha series and scrolls of jutsu's. Tapping his finger across the titles, he stopped on the genjutsu Sasuke was talking about. Walking over to his kitchen table, he hit the switch to get some light. His eyes squinted together at the sudden flash of light. He blinked a few times while placing the scroll on the wooden surface of his table.

Pulling a chair back he placed himself on it before opening the scroll and starting to read it. His eye flying over the lines, searching for the information he needed. Suddenly he stopped, getting to the spot he was looking for.

_The victims of the 'Tears of the forgotten genjutsu,' must not have __strong bonds with the person the user wants them to forget. However, if the user has strong bonds and/or feelings with/towards the person he wants his victims to forget the genjutsu will still work, but only if the user wears a token to strengthen his genjutsu and hangs around the victims a lot. As long the user keeps wearing the token and stays around the victims of the genjutsu, the genjutsu will still be highly effective. But if the token were to be destroyed or not worn for a long period of time, the genjutsu will break. To give this genjutsu the best results, the victims of the genjutsu must not be around the person the user wants them to forget. To perform the…_

Kakashi leant back in his chair, one of his hands still held the scroll while the other was brushing through his unruly silver hair. Well that explained a lot on his side. He was kept away from Sakura for four years, almost five now seeing it was at the end of October. And maybe Sasuke had a better bond with Sakura than he had, after all, they were around the same age and the way they'd treated each other before the spilt up, they were like brother and sister. But that didn't explain why Sasuke's bond was stronger then the bond Sakura had with Naruto. It just didn't make sense.

Sighing in irritation he stood up from his chair, leaving the scroll on the table whilst walking towards the window. Opening it he closed his now both uncovered eyes briefly, the slightly cold but fresh evening breeze brushed up against his masked face. Sniffing the air he could smell the familiar evening scent, but it was also mixed with the sweet scent of the restaurants preparing the food for late visitors before they closed.

Opening his onyx eye he gazed at the stars. The moon was almost full and made the picture almost perfect. The feeling that people slept in peace and safety that was the feeling he was willing to fight for, willing to die for.

Crossing his arms, he lazily gazed into the night while his thoughts wandered on the information it had been given. So he freely admitted that his bond with Sakura was weaker than Sakura had with the boys. So that explained why he had forgotten all about her. But why Naruto, if he had the same bond with the girl as Sasuke? Nothing was stronger than… Both eyes snapped open at the realisation. Was it love? Was that the reason that Naruto forgot Sakura too? But Sasuke didn't love anybody, not in that way...

Forgetting to close the window he turned back towards his table, reading the scroll over again. Even though his head said it was ridiculous, here in front of him was the written proof, the only bond stronger than family was a bond of pure, heart aching love. Letting himself fall back onto the chair he'd sat on earlier, he stared at the scroll finally understanding everything. The cold hearted, stoic Uchiha had lost his heart to Sakura. Suddenly the same emotion that came over him on the night he saw Sakura in the arms of Neji overrode his senses. '_Great another asshole after my Sakura._'

"Wow, where did that came from!" He spoke out loud in bewilderment. Looking at the clock he saw it was already three in the morning. "It's just tiredness kicking in, that must be it." He quickly stood up, slamming the switch and causing the light to go out and closed the window before making a quick exit towards his bedroom.

The next morning he got up, going through his usual morning ritual's before grabbing the scroll he'd left on his table the night before and pushing it safely into his pocket. This was the evidence that it was not his fault and he could use it to bring Sakura back to him. Even though she would still be angry they could start over again.

Making sure twice that he had the scroll safe and sound in his pocket and not to mention the Icha Icha paradise he was reading he teleported out of his apartment, appearing on the Hokage monument. Biting his thump, he summoned his dogs, letting them all scout the area for Sakura. When a half hour later Pakkun came back, he found his leader sitting on the head of the fourth, reading his Icha Icha while he was waiting. Turning his nose up in disgust of his master's reading material he quickly said that Sakura was on the outlying borders of Konoha, sitting in a tree.

Familiar with said tree, because he'd found her there before, he closed his book and thanked his furry companion before setting off into the direction. Making sure she wouldn't be able to sense or smell him, he finally got the opportunity he was waiting for when he saw the sole of her shinobi boots.

Making sure she couldn't hear him, he quickly jumped up next to her. Before she could even react when she felt his unmistakeable chakra signature and tried to escape, his hands had already reached out and snatched her book out of her hands and now he was holding her hands in his, making sure she couldn't make any hand signs to poof out of there or use a genjutsu on him.

xXx

Sakura was relaxing in her favourite spot, hoping that destiny would be kind to her today. But it seemed that her prayers either weren't heard or else just went unheeded. She'd just come to the good part, such a nerve breaking part when she felt the chakra signature of Kakashi right beneath her. Even before she could close her book and teleport away said book was snatched out of her hands and was now currently in the hands of none other than the man she wanted to avoid at all costs right now, Kakashi.

Anger boiled up, and she tried hard to free her hands, but she was roughly pushed against the bark of the tree, her hands above her head while her face looked straight into his. She wanted to force chakra into her hands to push him off but he realised immediately what she wanted to do. Forcing his own chakra into his hands, he pushed her hands back into place. Sakura kept struggling, not wanting to admit defeat.

"Sakura..."

"Let me go!"

"No, not until you start listing to me."

"I don't want to hear anything you have to say, now let me go before I really get mad!"

"Sakura please! Let me explain."

"You don't have to! Sasuke said more than enough."

"He told you?"

"I know everything Hatake, now remove your hands from my person immediately!"

"Did he also tell you how he did it?"

Sakura stopped struggling. That was the one part she couldn't figure out and she'd eventually settled with the thought that they just didn't care. Noticing that she'd stopped struggling, he took her silence as a no.

"He put me and Naruto into a genjutsu called the 'Tears of the forgotten'. He used it so Naruto and I would forget you."

"And why should I believe you!" Sakura spat out. She freed her leg and kicked him with full force in the ribs. He tumbled out of the tree, falling on a branch on his way down before he hit the ground hard. Groaning softly he carefully laid his hand on the place Sakura had kicked him. '_That's going to bruise._'

Sakura jumped out the tree herself, yanking Kakashi up by his collar while she glared at him with hatred. "Why should I believe you when you always lied to me?! You even turned your back on me when I was still a genin. You don't even care so shut the hell up and leave me alone. I don't want you in my life, you hear that?! So stop bothering me!"

Kakashi's heart ached in agony when she said that. All the regret and sorrow he felt over the past few years back in the days when she was still genin coming back in full force. But what hurt him the most was that she thought he didn't care and that she didn't want him in her life. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he gazed painfully at the girl holding him up. He did care, he really did. Even though he didn't show it, he did care in his own way.

He didn't even recognize that she'd let him go. His knees hit the ground while his eye was still locked with the emerald ones above him. Why did she think he didn't care? Weren't they best friends before this all started? So many questions rose in his head, all coming down to one conclusion. If she didn't believe him, he would have to show her the scroll he had with him. If she didn't believe he cared, he would show her he cared. He was already practically showing her that he cared. He kept coming back after her even though she was pushing him away time and time again. Couldn't she see that?

"I do care Sakura," Kakashi suddenly said, barely audibly. Sakura looked at him shocked, her green depths widening with surprise and she stumbled a few steps backwards when Kakashi stood up.

Kakashi wanted to say something again when a horse whinny filled the air. Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly, and they darted in the direction of the sound. The clopping sound of a horse riding at full speed was coming close. Before Kakashi could say anything, Sakura ran in the direction of the sound.

"Don't!" He sighed heavily when she'd already disappeared out of his view, not hearing his warning or just simply ignoring it altogether. Not wasting any further time he sprinted after her and caught up with her almost straight away.

"This isn't such a good idea in your condition you know."

"Shut up when you don't even know what I'm capable of," Sakura snapped back irritated. Kakashi kept his mouth shut then. She was correct indeed because he didn't know what this Sakura was capable of. He did see a few things when she'd rescued them, but he guessed that wasn't even half of the things Sakura had mastered when she was under the tutelage of the Hokage and some others.

They found a black horse without its rider racing through the woods. The saddle was still placed upon his back and the reins hanging right side of his head. Sakura quickly leapt into the trees, before jumping straight into the saddle, her feet sliding into the stirrups while her hands grabbed the horse's mane.

The horse began to prance, trying to get the stranger off his back. Sakura kept murmuring soft words and shushing noises into the animal's ears to calm the animal down. Concentrating a bit chakra into her left hand she started to stroke the animal's fur, slowly forcing it to calm down. After a few minutes the horse was calm, now silently standing on the road while Sakura kept stroking him.

Kakashi shook his head, slowly walking towards the animal itself. "Really Sakura you should be more careful. You could have gotten hurt."

Sakura simply shrugged his comment off when her eyes caught a glimpse of something shiny. Curiously she brushed some of the black mane away to see family crest she was all too familiar with emblazoned upon the head collar. Jerking her head up she tried to locate the path the horse had come from, slightly getting nervous while doing so.

Kakashi noticed the change of behaviour and wondered what had got her so worked up. Wanting to ask what was wrong, Sakura spoke up and answered the unspoken question. "There's somebody injured I guess, maybe 2 miles south of here." Kakashi nodded and climbed on the back of the horse while Sakura grabbed the reins.

"Hold on." Turning the horse around, she kicked her feet slightly into the sides of the horse before setting off, ignoring the feeling of Kakashi's arms wrapped around her middle and his breath tickling her exposed neck.

While they rode in the forest, Kakashi couldn't help but notice how good she smelled and the warmth of her body pressed against him. It gave him a surprisingly good feeling, even enjoyable perhaps. It felt good, even right to hold her so. He leaned slightly in, his nose almost touching her skin when Sakura pulled at the reins, stopping the horse's movements.

He quickly leaned backwards, avoiding his face colliding with the back of Sakura's shoulder. Scanning the area they were now in, he could indeed see a person lying unconscious on the ground. He quickly slid off wanting to help Sakura get off too but she simply ignored his hand and got down herself. She quickly walked towards the person lying on the ground, turning him around to see his face when her insides froze completely.

"Jun-san!"

_**To be continued…**_


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews, new favs and alerts. I'm glad so many readers like the story. Here's the new chapter. Sorry it took a bit long but the updates from now on won't be so quick anymore. I've got an assignment from school that is going to take allot of my time so I'm not sure when I'll update again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 15:**

The sound of heels connecting with the white tiles of the hospital resounded through the halls and people quickly parted to make way for the blonde woman who strode by. Every pair of eyes followed her movement while she walked by before she disappeared from sight. She was surrounded by excited whispers, prying eyes and wild rumours were abounding as she made her way past everyone.

She sighed annoyed at it all. Why did people always think the worst when she strode in a quick pace through the hospital? One moment she was sipping her sake delicately while looking over some papers in her office the next Shizune had walked in and before she could protest the sake was pulled out of her reach, she was grabbed by the wrist and dragged away towards the hospital while the brunette talked in a hushed way that gave the blonde a headache. All she could pick out from among her whisperings were the words Sakura, Kakashi, unconscious man and hospital.

Raising her eyebrow now totally confused she freed her wrist and started to walk faster in the direction they'd been headed. Turning another corner she walked to the end of the hall, opening the door on her right as she reached it. Inside she saw Kakashi leaning against the wall while looking out the window. Sakura was sitting in the chair next to the bed where a man with shoulder length, curly black hair was laying. He was around his fifties she guessed.

Crossing her arms she stared, her honey colored eyes switching from the man towards her former apprentice. Their gazes locked, Tsunade's filled with curiousness for an explanation while Sakura's was simply… blank. Sakura sighed at the unspoken question and turned her head back to Jun.

"Kakashi and I found him on the road, 2 miles from the southern borders. He was unconscious before we got there."

"Do you know the man?"

"Yes. He's the butler of the family who saved my life when I used the genjutsu. I owe them my life."

Tsunade nodded, her gaze sliding back towards the man. That explained why she'd brought him into the hospital without a qualm. Her head turned slightly to look at the silver haired man who hadn't spoken a word since she'd arrived, nor had he even moved a muscle for that matter. His eye had slid towards the door when she came in before turning his gaze back towards the blue sky.

"What is his condition?" Tsunade spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen in the room. She walked forward, standing on the other side of the bed, directly opposite of Sakura.

"Some bruises and a few cuts on his shoulders and torso. One big cut on his stomach, definitely what caused him to faint from blood loss," Sakura spoke in a monotonous voice. "The medics already took care of it. He will probably wake up in another hour or so."

Even though she sounded like it didn't matter to her, her posture was abnormally stiff. Quirking her eyebrow, Tsunade stared at the young ANBU captain. Even though her eyes were devoid of any emotion, the slight twitch in her lips and the slightly narrowed eyebrow showed her nervousness and worry. Something was bothering her, and she had a good feeling what it was.

The emerald eyes snapped up, staring at the honey ones, knowing immediately that she was caught. They started a small staring competition, neither stepping back from the heated gaze. Tsunade won in the end, Sakura turning her head while she scowled slightly at her loss.

"I know something is worrying you Sakura, so tell me already."

Kakashi finally turned around wondering just what the hell had happened. They hadn't spoken, otherwise he would have heard it himself, no way he wouldn't have, but it seemed that they had spoken thousands of words by simply gazing at each other. Slightly curious as to what was wrong, he turned his head towards the pink haired female and then to the blonde Hokage.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she waved her head towards Jun. "And I do not like it one bit."

"You mean…?"

Sakura nodded short, biting her lower lip while doing so. She stood up pulling up her shirt as she did so. Her pale skin came into view, most smooth except for a strange scar on her lower stomach. It looked rather like a bird.

"You see this scar? I got that on the mission you sent me on six months ago."

She lowered her shirt again and carefully pushed the bedding down off Jun, revealing his upper torso. On the same spot where Sakura's scar was, the dark haired man had a healing cut in the same shape.

Tsunade widened her eyes in realization. Kakashi raised his eyebrow confused. He didn't know what was going on, but the reaction of the Hokage definitely had him worried. Something wasn't right, and it had to do with the mission she had sent Sakura on.

"We do not know for sure Sakura. But I fear for the worse. Call for me when he starts to wake up. I want answers."

"Yes Tsunade-sama."

"Hatake, I want you to find Ibiki for me and send him to my office immediately. If Sakura is right, we have a lot of things to plan out."

Kakashi bowed slightly before disappearing in a poof smoke. Tsunade turned her gaze back towards Sakura. "I thought you said your mission was a success."

"It was."

"Then how..."

"How should I know?" Sakura snapped back irritated. "I did what you ordered me to do."

"Remember whom you're speaking to Sakura." Tsunade snapped back.

Sakura hissed, glaring at the blonde woman before her. "My apologies Hokage-sama. But I know when I silence a person. I was covered in his blood you know. And I know for certain it wasn't tomato juice."

Just when Tsunade wanted to punch the girl, the black haired man awoke and started to cough. Sakura quickly walked to his side, checking his vitals. When she was done and looked up, she was greeted by a pair of dark blue eyes staring back at her.

"S…Sakura...san," He coughed out.

"Welcome back by the living Jun-san. How are you feeling?" Sakura replied, grabbing the hand which was searching for her own. She squeezed it soothingly. Jun tried to sit up but was pushed back into the mattress by Sakura.

"F…fine. We n…need your help S…Sakura-san. Milord Hiro a…and milady Akira are in g…great danger. Our mansion got invaded. Milady A…Akira got taken away. I managed t…to escape and tried to get t…to you. W…what happened?"

"You got injured when you tried to escape right?" Jun nodded, looking at Sakura with a worried and slightly panic look.

"I'm terribly sorry but we couldn't save your body. We had to cut of your stomach and below that region otherwise you couldn't survive. We're trying to fix it now but I'm afraid that there is not much hope left," Sakura said seriously.

Jun gasped horrified. But when he heard the small snickers that passed Sakura's lips, he scowled. "Stop playing with me girl!"

"At least you stopped coughing Jun-san," was her reply. He was silent for a moment, realizing that indeed that he had stopped coughing.

"You're not badly injured. Just take a good rest and everything should be fine. I found you unconscious on the ground, two miles away from our outlying borders. You fainted from blood loss," Sakura explained. "What did the people who attacked the mansion look like?"

"They wore tabards. The background was dark-blue and there was a phoenix painted on the chest, it was red, just like the borders. Their flags were the same. I… remember a woman. She was the leader of the group judging by the way they bowed to her when she walked through. She was around twenty-six I suppose. She had waist length blonde hair, brown eyes and a piercing in her nose."

Sakura nodded, her fear already coming true in her head. "Do you remember if she had anything on her right wrist?"

Jun paused, trying to force the image of the woman back to the forefront of his mind. "It was a black tattoo. A tribal one, it looked like a bird stretching his wings."

"Thank you Jun-san," Sakura said. Her eyes saddened with the information she had gained.

Alarmed at the change in her attitude Jun grabbed Sakura's hand when it started to slip away. "You are going to help us right?"

"I promise on my life that I'll do anything to help you." Sakura said. Jun smiled, satisfied with her answer. "Why don't you get some more rest Jun-san. I'll be back once I'm done with some things."

She started to walk away, beckoning Tsunade to follow her with a wave of her hand. She opened the door and turned her head back towards the bed when Jun's voice was heard.

"Thank you Sakura-san. I knew we could count on you."

Sakura smiled back before walking out of the room, stopping halfway down the hall to wait for Tsunade to catch up. Together they started to walk towards Hokage tower. Sakura was in deep thought while Tsunade made sure she didn't collide with anything along the way. Walking into the office they saw Ibiki sitting in one of the chairs, Kakashi standing in a corner while his Icha Icha was resting in his hands as usual.

They both looked up when they entered, Ibiki standing up and bowed slightly to Tsunade who walked to her desk with barely a nod in his direction. Sitting down in her chair, she motioned the other occupants of the room to sit too. Sakura however remained standing, to the left side of Ibiki.

"Sakura I want you to inform Kakashi of everything about this."

Sakura growled slightly, not wanting to do such a thing. But the demanding look in her former Shishou's eyes and knowing she wouldn't take no for an answer left her no choice and she bowed swiftly.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Turning around sharply on her heels, she walked out of the office, Kakashi a few steps behind. Knowing he would live longer if he kept his mouth shut, he silently followed Sakura to one of the other rooms in Hokage tower. Stepping into one of the sitting rooms, she closed the door behind them.

"Sit."

While Kakashi sit as she had asked him to, well more like ordered him to do, Sakura started to make some seals. Now with a sound proof barrier around the room, she moved towards the long table. Not bothering to sit in one of the available chairs she kept standing in front of the window, gazing outside.

"What I am about to tell you is top secret information." When Kakashi didn't reply she took a deep breath, and started to talk.

"Have you ever heard about a group who calls themselves the Syndicate?"

"I have heard of the name, nothing more."

Sakura let out a sigh. That's going to be a lot of time spent in here for the two of them obviously. '_There goes my afternoon in the hot springs._'

"The syndicate consists of three groups who call themselves Elysium, Scryers and Infinity. Their symbol is a phoenix, printed upon their tabards and flags. Their goal is, quite simply… world domination. When and how they strike is still a mystery. But it seems they are targeting Grass this time, just like before," Sakura said, not tearing her gaze of the horizon.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked confused.

"I mean that this isn't the first time they've tried to get Grass in their hands. I was there when they first tried it."

"But how…?"

"6 Months ago I was sent away on a solo mission. I was to get the information we needed before taking the organisation down."

Flashback

_Three knocks on the door were__ heard before it started to open. Bright blue eyes shifted from the report he had been reading to the female approaching. Her chest was covered by a black tabard, and emblazoned across it was a red Phoenix, that was printed upon the cloth just like the borders. Her long legs were covered in black pants, and high heels were clinging to her feet. Her black hair was pulled into a messy bun, a few strands falling before her emerald eyes. Her arms were bare, a single golden bracelet adorning her right bicep while both her wrists were bound with leather straps._

"_Ah Tyana, I've been expecting you."_

_The girl bowed, a grin on her lips while she bowed swiftly for the man sitting behind his desk.__ "You summoned me Milord Kaemon."_

_Th__e smile on the man's face widened at the sound of the honorific, and his reply was to pat the desk in front of him, the woman stepped forward, placing herself on the spot his hand had rested upon a few minutes ago._

"_I've heard that you complet__ed your mission without failure. Impressive for a newcomer, you're here now for only four months and you complete such a high task perfectly." He leaned in slightly, his left hand touching her upper thigh. _

_Tyana smiled. "I told you I could do it. But if I may, why was it important to kill Baiku Dan?"_

_Keamon sighed, sliding his hand back and let__ting it rest on his lap while his chin rested on his right palm. His bright eyes looked over Tyana sceptically, deciding to tell whenever or not._

"_Since you__ have already shown your devotion towards this organisation, I will tell you. If Baiku Dan is out of the way, we will be one step closer to taking over the Grass country. Then with Grass and Lightning under our control it would only be a matter of time before we complete our goal." _

"_Sound__s good."_

_Kaemon smiled pulling the woman into his lap. Her arms sneaked around his __neck while she nuzzled his into the crook of it. He didn't notice that her mouth brushed against her hand, her lips now covered in a strange green glow._

"_When the tim__e comes, everything will be much better and there's one thing about that I like the most."_

"_What's that Milord?" Tyana asked, her breath tickling his flesh._

"_Konoha will be destroyed! Along__ with all those filth that joins with them."_

_Tyana's eyes twitched dangerously at the comment, but it went unnoticed by the man beneath her. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling the black haired girl closer. She lifted__ her head up, their lips so close they could feel the warmth from each others breathe upon them. Closing the gap, she placed one hand behind his head, softly pulling at his short dark blue colored hair. Feeling the grip tighten on her waist and the tongue tapping her lip, she smirked inwardly. She pulled back, a faint groan of disappointment passing from his lips._

"_You're such a tease Tyana. One day I'll just take you."_

"_To bad that will__ never happen," Tyana said smiling. She pushed herself off his lap, putting the pill for the antidote in her mouth as she did so. The toxic poison she'd placed upon her victim would be kicking in moments from now._

_Keamon looked at her confused__ and suddenly realized what had happened. He stood up angrily, his chair scrapping the floor as it moved backwards when he did so. He grabbed his kunai and tried to charge the woman._

_She dodged the attack easily, grabbing the man's wrist and pushing him backwards.__ He stumbled, falling over his own legs and hitting the ground. He loosed his grip on his kunai falling onto the ground with a thud. Tyana picked it up, slowly walking towards the man who tried to gain his vision back. She stepped closer, kneeling down before the man, their faces at the same height while they gazed at each other. Keamon's eyes filled with hatred and the despised anger he held for her now, while Tyana's emerald ones looked at him with a mocking glint. A smirk on her lips as she let the kunai slide along his uncovered flesh by his neck._

"_You filthy whore! The __Syndicate will make you pay for your treachery. They will prevail and you will fall!" _

"_That will never happen, not when somebody like me is there to stop it." Placing the kunai __upon his throat she slit it open, the blood splattering up on to her face and uniform as she did so. Making sure she left no fingerprints or clue that it was here. She stood up wiping the blood from her face while walking towards the desk. Slamming down a scroll, she did a few hand signs before slamming her palm on the paper._

_Opening the window__ behind the desk, she jumped over the edge, landing soundlessly on the ground beneath her. Taking off she ran into the nearby woods and the alarm went off a few minutes later, startling her slightly. Pushing a tiny amount of chakra into her feet, she urged herself to go faster._

_She could feel the enemies approaching, her hands sliding towards the short blades she always hide in her boots__ as they did so. Jumping up she pulled her legs together to grab hold of her weapons, flipping over she blocked the kunai that had been thrown at her before ducking to avoid another one. She counted six opponents, and more coming her way the longer she stayed there._

_Slamming one of her blades into the tree, she pulled herself up to dodge the man who swung at her. Throwing one of her blades at his form,__ she hit him in the leg. Pulling out the blade she was hanging on, she fell down, only to grab the fist which was now mere inches away from her face. Slitting his throat, she jumped down to pull out the other blade out of the man. He screamed but was silenced the moment she buried her blade in his skull._

_She fought that way __for what seemed like hours. It was like fighting cockroaches, the more you killed the more would come to replace them. She was drenched in her enemy's blood, the blood of people whom she had called friends for four months while she was there undercover. She pushed another man away, pulling her blade out of his heart while she did so when an explosion was heard. The ground trembled and threw some of the men out of balance._

_Jerking her head up, she saw the rising flames of her work. Her mission was complete. While the men were busy staring at the rising flame__s, she took the chance to kill them once and for all. Slamming both daggers in the tree next to her, her hands raced through the seals of her genjutsu, enveloping every man around her into it._

_Pulling her blades out of the tree once more, she took off running into the darkness of the night. Dispelling her __genjutsu she kept on running moving as far and as fast as possible, the light of the moon reflecting on the woman's pink locks._

Flashback

"So you think the Syndicate is behind this attack on that family?"

Her short nod was her reply.

"But you destroyed it. How could…"

"I didn't destroy it. I merely took down a part of it, Elysium to be more precise. But I fear that the other two are much more dangerous than the one I fought. I took me three months to gain the trust of Kaemon Tsutaya, the leader of Elysium."

"How did you know for sure he was the leader?"

"Because when I was there, I noticed a black tattoo upon his right wrist. The same as the one of the blonde haired woman who came by when I was undercover," Sakura explained. This time she turned around her eyes staring straight into the lone onyx one. "The same woman Jun-san described not a while ago."

_**To be continued…**_


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Here's a new chapter. Sorry it took me so long. Thanks for all the reviews and favs ^^

**Chapter 16:**

Sakura was always a woman of her word. If she made a promise you knew she would hold to it, even if it killed her in the end. And this time she gave her word to Jun, promising him that she would do anything in her power to help the family he served and who had also saved her life, no questions asked.

That was the reason she was outraged when Tsunade said they should wait until more information came in. She refused to do so. Even though her team would come back from their mission very soon, they wouldn't be fit enough to send out straight again. It was asking for suicide if you did that, besides, she had done this before on her own. It was only a matter of getting a good cover, make sure they get interested in you and you're in. That's the easiest part. The hardest part was getting trusted by the leader to get close enough to get information as to where the family was held.

Ibiki didn't interrupt once while Tsunade was arguing with her former apprentice. The way her eyebrow twitched dangerously low and the irritation practically creating a glow around her made him not want to interfere at all. Turning his head slightly to look at the cause of her state, which was the calmly standing Sakura. Even though her pose didn't hold any angst or annoyance, her eyes betrayed how she felt. They were filled so much hatred at the moment, fire burning in her dark green depths. It made him wonder who is going to win this argument. At the moment he couldn't tell which one would give first. Tsunade was right that they should wait for more information, but Sakura was right in her own way to. The innocent people who were captured could be in great danger and if they waited any longer, something could happen, something they could have prevented it if they just stepped into action.

A crack sounded making him shake his head slightly. Tsunade lost her temper easily but never had he thought Sakura would be the one to bare the brunt of it.

"Enough Sakura! We don't have the right information. It could be a trap for all we know."

"You know just as I do that it's not a trap. I deal with them before so let me go."

"Absolutely not! Your team is still away till the end of this week, if they keep to the time frame anyway. It could take weeks more. And your back isn't fully healed yet."

"That's no excuse. My back is fine," Sakura snapped back.

"That may be so but you still don't have a team."

"Then give me one! I'm not going to sit around and wait when I know I could have done something."

"The answer is no, end of discussion."

"I gave Jun my word and I'm not going to back down on it. Whether you give me a team or not, permission or not I will go!" Tsunade wanted to snap something back but Sakura slammed her fist on the wooden desk, making it crack slightly under her force. "That family saved my life! I owe them my help. And I'm not only doing it because of that. They had a choice to let me bleed to death back then but yet they didn't. They took care of me as if I was a family member. I'm going Tsunade-sama, you can't stop me."

"I should strip you of your rank Sakura, speaking like me like that."

"Fuck you!"

"I order you not to go, Sakura. I'm the freaking Hokage here! Know your place!"

"If you're going to play it that way fine," Sakura hissed. She grabbed her headband from her arm and yanked it off, slamming it down on the table. "I quit."

In one second there was only silence in the office. The honey colored eyes were now as wide and round as saucers. She stared at her former apprentice who turned sharply on her heels and marched out of the office, slamming the door with a deafening slam.

She fell back into her chair still frozen from the shock. This is so **not** how she had thought things would go. She knew Sakura was going to be difficult and not agree with her point of view at all and she could understand what Sakura was going through. Hell she was even the one that taught her that she should always keep her word. Cursing inwardly at her stubborn former apprentice she rubbed her forehead with her left hand. Closing her eyes she tried to think of something that would help to fix this.

"Tsunade-sama?"

"What?!" Tsunade snapped, her eyes locking with the ones of the ANBU head division.

"I'm not picking any sides on this matter but if Sakura is so resolutely focused on this task why not let her go? I know it's a big risk but weren't you the one who said that she could do almost anything and had complete faith in her with every task you handed to her? Why not put the same faith in her like you always have done."

Tsunade grit her teeth not wanting to admit her defeat. Glazing at the headband she knew she had no other choice than to give in. Even though for the most part, the biggest part of her was annoyed with the whole situation, a small part was proud of the pink haired woman. She didn't let anything stop her even if it meant having to say goodbye to something she knew she loved with all her heart. But she would rather die than admit that straight to her face, her ego was big enough.

"You're right. But I can't let her go alone. Her team isn't here and the other qualified members of ANBU are already on a mission or recovering in the hospital from one."

"Why not send Hatake with her?"

"Wait what?" Kakashi spoke out.

"You heard me. He's more than qualified for this. He's a former ANBU squad leader so he knows how things go."

"Fine, put that makes two people out of a squad that should include four."

"They'll make it just fine. It's an undercover mission. It's better to go with smaller groups. Besides it's the great Copy nin and the Pink Illusion that's going together. Don't forget just what Sakura is capable of."

"I know what she can do," Tsunade snapped back. "I taught her the most things she uses as a regular base. But still this is the Syndicate we're dealing with."

"She brought down one whole part of it herself. You should trust her abilities more. She isn't that small little girl anymore who didn't know her way. You said so yourself at her funeral. And when Sakura's team comes back from their mission we can send them as back up if anything happens."

"Fine," Tsunade sighed. She stood up biting her thump before summoning one of her slugs.

"Get Sakura here right away." The slug nodded and poofed away.

Kakashi sighed. Well this was not what he wanted at all when he got up this morning. But on the other hand he would be going on a mission with Sakura. That will give him time enough to convince Sakura. He would have preferred to opt for an easier way but it seems the higher powers didn't wanted to grant him his way, so he'd take what he could get.

A few minutes after the slug disappeared Sakura was teleported back. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she stared hard at the blonde before her.

"That was a low trick you know."

"That was the only way to get you to come here after your dramatic exit."

Sakura huffed, still glaring daggers at the woman before her. Tsunade only sighed annoyed and grabbed the headband lying on her desk before tossing it with a hard shove towards Sakura. Her hand shot up, catching the metal before it made contact with her face. Raising an eyebrow she lowered her arm and looked at Tsunade with a confused stare.

"You're going."

"I beg your pardon?" Sakura replied. Inwardly smirking at the fact she had won her former teacher over.

"I said you're going," Tsunade ground out trough her clenched teeth.

"I didn't quite hear that could you repeat that please?"

"That's enough Sakura. You know what she's saying."

"I'm sending you in together with Hatake." Sakura looked like she wanted to complain but was silenced when Tsunade raised her hand. "Don't you dare to complain girl! He's coming along and that's that."

Sakura rolled her eyes but didn't say anything further. "This will be an unranked mission, no time frame is to be set seeing as it could take months to complete this. You know the drill. Your team will be the back up if anything happens, once they return anyway. Sakura you're leading this mission seeing as you have more experience with these people before. You're leaving today. You're all dismissed expect you Sakura. I want a word with you before you leave."

Ibiki and Kakashi saluted before walking out of the office. Kakashi looking at Sakura a tad worried before he walked into the hall.

"I have a feeling of déjà-vu here," Sakura said remembering when her team walked out of the office and she was ordered to stay.

"It wouldn't have been like this if you didn't act this way."

"What way have I been acting?"

"You know damn well about what behaviour I'm speaking about. And I'm warning you. If you don't stop one day it will kill you."

"You worry too much. Now if you excuse me I need to pack my things for another mission."

Sakura's eyes widened with surprise when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her, locking her arms against her side. She felt warm breath tickling her neck while her Tsunade hugged her from behind. But the tone she spoke with next was the thing Sakura wasn't prepared for.

"I already thought I lost you once. Don't make that nightmare real."

The trembling and broken voice made Sakura's insides shudder. Her hands came up and gently touched the arms circling around her body, softly caressing the skin. "You know I won't die easily and you know nothing will stop me from paying my debt to the family even if it does cost my life. But I'll die knowing I gave it my all."

Sakura finally turned around staring into the honey eyes of her former teacher. The woman she admired and respected and viewed as her second mother. "You know my ninja way and you know what this means when I say I promise I'll do anything in my power to get back to you Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade's eyes widened when she saw for one second the Sakura she had known all her life, the one without the burden of years of hurt and betrayal. The image disappeared as fast as it had come but still she smiled a small smile and nodded. Even though the image had disappeared she knew the real Sakura was slowly coming out her shell. "I know."

Letting the girl go Sakura turned around once more and walked out of the office. Tsunade sighed and walked back towards her desk. Grabbing the shake bottle out of her drawer she took a sip while she stared at the form of the pink haired woman walking away. The smile on her face widened while she took another sip, her eyes never leaving the woman. "I know."

**xXx**

She didn't speak with Kakashi after she had left the building. He probably already knew what he should bring along anyway, he had done allot more missions than her so she wasn't worried about that at all. She walked silently next to Jun, she had already picked him up from the hospital. He had already had said everything he could remember.

"So where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to stay with my mother. She won't mind some company."

"Ah." Jun fell silent for a moment, his fingers fidgeting with the fabric of his shirt. Something was troubling him, Sakura knew. His actions made her slightly nervous and she wondered what got him to act that way. She stopped walking and sighed.

Jun turned stopped when he noticed the pink haired female at his side had also stopped walking. Blinking in surprise he turned his head to look at her.

"Tell me what's wrong Jun-san. I know something is troubling you."

"I'm sorry about my behaviour towards you Sakura-san. I was cold and it wasn't my…" He stopped shocked when a hand touched his shoulder. Turning his gaze upwards he saw Sakura smiling at him.

"Don't worry about that Jun-san. You had your reasons back then. I was a mere stranger and you were trying to protect your family."

"Still I owe you an apology."

"You're forgiven. But that was not the reason you're so worried. I know I can't promise that they'll be safe and well. But I can promise you I'll make them pay if they even hurt a single hair on Akira-san or Hiro-san's heads."

"Let me come with you."

"You know I can't do that."

"But…"

"Jun-san I know how you feel but be reasonable. The ones we're up against are highly skilled ninja's. You have to trust me."

"Thank you Sakura-san for everything."

"You're welcome."

When they arrived at Sakura's house Hanu was sitting on the porch. She smiled when she caught sight of her daughter and quickly dusted herself off and stood up to greet her daughter when she caught side of the person next to her. She gasped shocked and froze.

"Hanu-san it has been a while since I last saw you."

"Same applies to you Jun-san." Sakura's mother replied.

Sakura raised her eyebrow confused. How the hell did those two know each other? Seeing her confused gaze her mother sighed.

"I'll go make some tea." Hanu said before disappearing into her house.

"Jun-san how do you know my mother?"

"Well that explains why Akira-san felt such a strong bond with you," Jun replied thoughtfully.

Sakura gulped trying to get everything in. Did that mean what she thought it meant?

"What are you trying to say Jun-san?" She asked wondering if she really wanted to know that answer.

"You and Akira-san are half sisters, Sakura-san. Hanu-san is also the mother of Akira-san."

_**To be continued…**_


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope you guys like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 17: **

Sakura glanced at Jun with a look of disbelief. That couldn't be true, could it? Akira was eight years old and back then her mother was... Oh shit, she was on a long term mission and she was away for almost two years. That was also the year where she'd grown a lot closer to her father. Turning sharply on her heel she marched into the house to look for her mother.

Seeing the black haired woman standing in the kitchen with some cups in her hand, she leaned against the door way. Her arms crossed over each other while they drummed upon her skin in a rhythm. Her eyebrow's knitted together while her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

"You've got some explaining to do mother."

Hanu gulped, quickly putting the cups on the sink. Taking a deep breath she turned to face her daughter, her green eyes looked a bit frightened but the biggest part of them was filled with guilt.

"I don't know where to start."

"Well start at the beginning. What were you thinking going and cheating on Dad like that?"

"Well I don't know. I was lonely on the guarding mission and one thing let to another and then I got pregnant. I was so afraid that I would lose you and your father. A couple of months after she was born I left."

Sakura sighed, rubbing her forehead with her left hand. So the girl who had saved her life was her half sister. Great, now this would be a lot more complicated, what with her knowing the truth.

"Why didn't you tell me? One minute I'm an only child and then all of a sudden I have a sister?"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't handle the guilt I felt towards you and your father so I kept silent hoping it wouldn't be so hard on me. But as much as I kept hoping the pain never faded away I felt for you and your father as the same for the sweet little baby girl."

"And what about Akira huh?! She had to grow up without a mother."

"I never told you her name, how do you know her?"

"Because my sister saved my life mom. They found me bloodied on the ground and took me in. They took care of me all the time I was gone."

"Ah." Hanu fell silent for a few moments. She knew she'd hurt her daughter deeply with this news. "How did she look like?"

Sakura sighed once again. She sounded so sad and defeated. Running her hand through her hair she looked at the slumping form of her mother. "She's beautiful mom. She has long black hair like you and purple colored eyes like Hiro-san."

A small smile appeared on her mother's face. "That's good to hear."

"Hmm, I guess so. As much as I want to stay here and talk about **this, **I'm leaving again so is it okay for Jun-san to stay here while I'm gone?"

Her mother looked up at that and glanced at Sakura a tad worried. "It's fine. When will you be back?"

"I can not say. It could take months."

"Ah. What rank?"

"Unranked."

"No! I forbid you to go," Hanu called out. Jumping out of her seat and grabbing her daughter by her arms. "It's too dangerous."

"It may be so mother, but somebody has to save my little sister."

"What?!"

"Yeah, Akira-san and Hiro-san got captured. Jun-san was the only one who could get away and came here to get help."

"Just be careful."

"I'm always careful," Sakura replied acting hurt.

"On every mission you go you always get back somehow injured. Even though for the most part they are minor cuts, you're still injured. You're starting to slack sweetheart."

"Thanks for your faith in me mother," Sakura sighed with sarcasm. She turned around and started to walk out of the house. Jun was sitting on the veranda, waiting patiently on their return.

"You can stay Jun-san so you don't have to worry about that. Now if you'll excuse me I have things to pack."

"Thanks once again lady Sakura," Jun said to the retreating form of Sakura.

She lifted up her hand in a wave. "Sakura-san is just fine Jun-san."

Jun smiled and nodded. "As you wish Sakura-san."

Suddenly Hanu burst through the door. "Sakura wait!"

Sakura turned around slight confused as to what her mother needed from her. Her mother stopped before her, panting slightly from the short sprint she had done to catch up to her daughter. In her hand was the white ANBU shaped fox mask.

"You're going to need this," Hanu said while handing the ANBU mask out to her daughter.

"Thanks mother," Sakura said whilst taking the white porcelain mask and letting her gaze wonder over the delicate shape of the mask. Well it wasn't so bloody anymore, not at all like the last time she had seen it. In truth she'd thought it was still lying there somewhere in the forest. With a small smile and a wave, she started to walk away again.

**xXx**

Packing everything that was necessary she looked over her apartment one more time. Placing a note she had written earlier for Ino on the table explaining about the mission she locked her apartment before making her way to the gates.

When Sakura reached the gates she saw Kakashi already leaning against one of the tall doors, reading his book as always. Her eyebrow twitched irritated and she sighed, a very annoyed huff. She really didn't look forward to working with the man at all.

"Good afternoon Sakura." Kakashi suddenly spoke up. He marked his page and placed the book in his pocket.

Sakura only gave him a nod before turning to Izumo, who came towards the pair with two black horses. Walking towards him she took over the reins and smiled thankfully.

"We're going to ride?" Kakashi asked confused.

"By foot it would take five days to reach our destination. If we ride the horses, we can make it within two to three days."

"Ah." Grabbing the rein which was handed to him he climbed up. "Ready when you are Sakura." Kakashi said smiling when he finally sat.

Sakura rolled her eyes, praying to kami that the mission would end soon. Climbing up herself she thanked Izumo once again before taking off, Kakashi not for behind.

They rode for hours until it was pitch dark outside and they stopped for to rest for the night at an inn. Sliding off her horse she softly petted the animals nose before walking in, not waiting to see if Kakashi was following her or not.

Kakashi sighed and slid down his horse. This would take a lot of time to gain Sakura's trust and get things back to how they were in the old days. Making sure the horses were comfortable he walked into the inn himself. He saw in front of him, Sakura talking with the old woman behind the counter. Her old tired eyes were filled with joy and she seemed to be pleased, nodding at what Sakura had said and walking through a door. Sakura walked after her but stopped by the opening. She turned around and stared straight at him.

"Are you coming or not?"

With that she turned around and vanished through the doorway. Walking after the pink haired woman his eyebrow raised in surprise at what he saw when he reached the placed where they had stopped. It was quite a comfy apartment that was spread out before him. The floor was covered with a soft, thick carpet, a couch stood before the fireplace, and to the right were two doors, probably the bedrooms he guessed, on the left side was the kitchen and behind the kitchen was another door probably leading to the bathroom.

The old woman leaned in, whispering something in Sakura's ear before pulling back. Watching the pink haired woman with mild interest she waited for Sakura's reply. Sakura however shook her head slightly and whispered something back.

The woman chuckled slightly followed by a coughing fit. She smiled softly and bowed before turning to walk away. Her eyes slid towards Kakashi for a few moments a grin appearing on her face before she hastily exited the apartment, leaving Sakura and Kakashi alone.

Kakashi noticed the look she had been giving him and watched her with confusion as she disappeared from his sight. Turning his head to the left he watched Sakura throwing her travelling coat on the chair before her, revealing her body dressed in tight black pants and her red sleeveless shirt. Her pale skin glowed a little with the moonlight touching her skin almost making her look like an angel.

His breath hitched and caught in his throat, quickly he averted his gaze to something else. His heart raced in his chest and inwardly he was kicking himself for even thinking that way of her. She was fourteen years his junior for gods sake! He shouldn't have reacted that way. Taking a deep breath he carefully turned to look at her again, seeing the confused look she was giving him and sighed relieved.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing, just a bit tired. That's all."

Sakura snorted, stretching her arms above her head before letting them fall down again. "The bedrooms are on the right hand side, bathroom's to the left. We're leaving tomorrow at six, if you're not ready by then I'm leaving without you." With that said she turned around and grabbed her bag before disappearing into the second room.

"Good night to you too," Kakashi muttered softly. He cringed slightly at the sound the door made as it was slammed shut and sighed deeply. Sakura hadn't let him come close once since what had happened between them two days ago. She kept him at arms length, only talking with him to either scowl at him or order him around.

Walking towards the room that wasn't occupied he opened the door to find a comfortable looking bed, a wooden desk and a wooden chair. The floor groaned under his weight with every step he made. With a dull thud his travelling pack hit the floor, two more followed soon after when he kicked off his shoes. Sighing he untied his travelling coat before letting himself fall upon his bed, it bounced slightly before adjusting to his weight and form. Staring at the ceiling with an empty gaze he wondered what he could do to get back into Sakura's good graces.

Sakura however plopped down on her bed the moment her bag hit the ground, not caring if she was still wearing her shoes. That stupid man always got on her nerves, how the hell could she be at her best when that stupid ass of a man was her partner? She scowled slightly while she turned to lie on her back. The memories of the conversation she'd had with him two days ago floating back into her mind. Was it true? Did Sasuke really use a genjutsu on them to make them forget her? Or was he just lying out of his ass again? She didn't know who to trust anymore, on one hand her heart yearned for him at the very site of Kakashi, telling her that they did care about her. But another part of her said to stop being foolish, Sasuke might still be right and that stupid wishing of hers that he hadn't abandoned her like he had would be just a waste of time.

She huffed, watching as a pink lock went up in the air floating upon her breath before it fell back down again. Why was this happening to her? Why couldn't they all just leave her alone? She turned on her side, her arms coming up to hug herself while she curled into a ball. She was doing fine on her own till now but no Kakashi had to come back in her life, ruining the balance she had created for herself. At one point she didn't want to know the truth anymore about what happened. It just hurt to damn much. Breathing out a shuddering breath she felt tears of frustration trickling down over her face. She didn't even realize she was crying until she felt her now damp pillow. Angry she wiped them away, glaring at the now slightly wet hand, crying was for weaklings and she wasn't weak anymore. She refused to cry and especially if the tears she cried out was caused because of **them**. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes tight, wishing that sleep would just claim her and let her leave this miserable place for just a few hours.

If felt like she'd just fell asleep when her eyes snapped open once again. Her gaze followed the walls before she stopped when she found what she was looking for. The clock showed her she had one hour before dawn. Yawning sleepily she sat up, rubbing her eyes before blinking a few times. Grabbing her bag she took some clean clothes from it before making her way towards the bathroom. The living room and the kitchen were still, no sign of her partner to be seen anywhere. Her green eyes fell onto the closed door of the room she knew he was sleeping in. At one point she'd wanted to believe his words but she couldn't. Even if he was telling the truth she didn't know if she could forgive them. Yes it would mean it wasn't their fault. Well not entirely, but how could they not see through a genjutsu?

She sighed and turned her gaze back towards her goal. Stepping into the bathroom she locked it before stripping her clothes off. She didn't even wait for the shower to get warm and hissed softly when the cold water touched her skin. Why would they want her back? She was jaded now, cold hearted and not the Sakura they used to know. It seemed almost a dream, she dreamt when her deepest feelings would come to surface when she was sleeping. The dreams that kept her heart aching with a painful sting. She'd already lost her hope to ever love again so why did this affect her so much? Even if she could manage to forgive them, that wouldn't take all away all the pain she had felt, that wouldn't take away the betrayal she felt, it wouldn't bring her old self back. She still would be the person she was now, a cold heartless assassin who killed anyone without missing a heartbeat.

Turning off the water she only faintly noted that it was warmer than at the start. Drying herself she took a deep breath. It was time to get control over her emotions again. She was the Pink Illusion damn it! She would not lose her control. She would just act like nothing had happened between them. Not the annoying talks, nothing. She would just treat him like before. Keep him at arms length. Don't let them come to close because in the end they would only hurt you or leave you behind.

With that on her mind she stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed. Grabbing her stuff from the room she'd slept in last night she checked it on more time before stepping out. This time she was not alone though. It seemed that Kakashi had finally had awoken. His eye was more droopy than normal and with a short wave he greeted her before he walked into the bathroom.

She snorted, pulling on her coat and walking out of the apartment. She made her way over to the main hall and greeted the old lady behind the counter.

"Good morning Basumi-san. Had a goodnights rest?"

"Ah yes Sakura-san, quite well in fact. I'll always sleep better when you're here, it makes me feel allot safer."

"I'm glad to be at your service," Sakura replied with a small smile on her lips. "Are you sure I don't have to pay for the apartment? It's no trouble to do so at all."

"Nonsense girl! You're the captain of my sweet grandchild Daisuke. I owe you so much for keeping him out of trouble."

"Just doing my job Basumi-san."

"Still I thank you. The horses are in the stable if you're wondering."

"Thank you Basumi-san, Daisuke is lucky to have such a sweet grandmother."

The old woman giggled and waved her comment away. "Don't flatter me so Sakura-san, you're going to make me blush."

Sakura smiled and bid the kind lady farewell when she saw Kakashi coming out of the apartment. Grabbing her bag and tossing it over her shoulder she walked out of the inn, making her way towards the stable.

Grabbing their horses she walked out handing the reins without a word to Kakashi before climbing up on her horse. Checking to see if she had everything she rode back to the road. Waving the old lady farewell as she had come to see her off she took off once again.

Kakashi tried to begin a conversation with her but Sakura didn't hear him or simply ignored him all together. He sighed frustrated. He didn't know how long he could bare this kind of behaviour towards him. They needed to talk things out before this would affect their mission.

That night they made camp in a cave not far from the Grass borders. They'd already stabled the horses at a nearby inn since they would continue on foot from now on. Kakashi was making the fire while Sakura was preparing the food. Still there wasn't a word said between the two, well Sakura didn't say a word. Kakashi was tired of trying to make her talk to him.

When they finished their dinner Kakashi had finally had enough of the treatment he got from her. Grabbing her arms he slammed her against the wall and made sure she couldn't escape.

"Enough of this Sakura, you're acting like a child. Stop ignoring me. Why can't we just talk things through?"

"There's nothing to say! Now let me go!" Sakura spat whilst glaring daggers at the man who had her pinned.

"No, not until we talk this through. This isn't working Sakura. It will affect the mission if we keep acting this way, you know this and so we're going to talk this out. Right here, right now."

_**To be continued…**_


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: A happy new year everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 18:**

Kakashi never lost control over his actions, but the annoyed way Sakura was acting against him finally made something snap within him, but it wasn't only his anger that welled up to surface. No, even the guilt he felt because it was slightly his fault that she'd become this way also wasn't the biggest thing that welled up inside of him. He couldn't name it, it was something he never felt before. But the way she was squirming against him only made it worse.

It was as if his whole body was on fire, every nerve of his system going into overdrive. Every touch of her body against his own drove him crazy. His eye took in the angry flushed face, her perfectly shaped lips moving fast while she was yelling at him, how her hot breath drifted through his mask and touched his hidden skin, how her legs rubbed against his own while she tried to kick him away, how her emerald eyes looked at him with hatred but if he looked deeper into the darkened depths he saw despair, pain and loss, a young girl screaming to be saved, to be brought out of the dark hole of betrayal and coldness she'd sunk into. But what almost sent him over the edge of his self control was how she smelled. Through all the years he had known her, this was the only thing that stayed the same. Her scent, so sweet and soft, like a siren song calling his name to allure him to this fallen angel before him, only instead of wishing to destroy him whether she knew it or not something seemed to be begging him to save her from this life she'd become entrapped in.

He squeezed his eye shut, hoping to shut off all the thoughts that came drifting in, thoughts he shouldn't be thinking of. _'But it's already to late. I'm already falling.'_ He was doomed from the start, when he saw her with Neji in The Broken Bottle, he should have known the moment he felt the envy coming up when he saw him hugging her that he was in trouble. But it's just a dream to think he'd ever have something with her. It was teasingly dangling in front of his face and yet he couldn't do anything as he watched it, filled with desire to get it but knowing that it wasn't actually meant for him to have.

The words I need you he had spoken against her back at the memorial stone had never rang so true as they did now. He really needed her, not for the team like he'd first meant but for his own. His world came crashing down when he thought she'd died, killing him painfully slowly. She was the reason he kept fighting on in this world, his drug to keep moving on and standing up whenever he was knocked down. She was the reason why he was still alive.

"Sakura please, just listen to me." His voice sounded so broken, even Sakura stopped squirming against him. His head faced her neck while it rested upon her shoulder. His hands still held hers against the wall but the strength behind the grip was gone.

Still with all the strength gone Sakura could easily push him off, yet she didn't. There was something in his voice that made her resist the temptation. He sounded so defeated, sad and broken, just like her. She wondered why he sounded that way, was it because of something she'd done? She bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming. Why did it have to be so complicated! Why couldn't she just hate him forever? Why couldn't she just be left alone like she had been at the start? But no, this man broke the barriers she'd built up to keep everyone away. Maybe she should give him the chance to tell his side of the story. Maybe… Sakura hung her head defeated, she couldn't handle the swirl of emotion's twisting inside of her.

Her head rested against his right shoulder, her eyes staring dully before her. "Fine…"

Kakashi was half startled when he heard her voice resounding through the cave. She gave him a chance to tell everything, a chance to make everything alright between them, how it was and how it should be. His hands still held hers, not wanting to break the contact between them just yet. He opened his eye finally, the long pink hair that fell over her shoulder like a wall that blocked him from seeing her face. He realized then how broken she really was, how much she had become like him, the way she was before he was assigned to teach Team 7. He had lost his team because of his own stupidity, but Sakura's loss was much worse.

She was walked out upon. She was tortured by every sight of them when she walked the lonely path they'd pushed her on. His team was dead which left him behind, alone to grieve. But Sakura… Sakura saw them every day, heard from them every day, about them, their mere presence torturing her, teasing her, twisting the knife in all the deeper. She shielded herself from everyone because she couldn't handle it, she didn't choose the loneliness for herself but was forced into it. That realization hit him hard, and to think he was one of the reasons she was so hurt. Anger boiled up in him, never had he loathed somebody as much as he did Sasuke that moment. How dare he to do this to her!

He swallowed uncomfortably, trying to sort through his thoughts for what to say first. He laughed at the irony, he wanted to tell her so many things all the times she'd walked away from him, and now she finally wants to listen he doesn't know what to say anymore. While he was pondering over his thoughts, he finally came to the decision to tell her about the scroll he wanted to show her back two days ago.

He finally released her hands and slide one of them into his pocket where he kept the scroll. Securing his fingers around the piece of paper he pulled it out his pocket and handed it over to Sakura. He lifted his head off her shoulder and watched how she opened the scroll. While her eyes followed every written line on the scroll he started telling his story.

"Four years ago Sasuke placed a jutsu on me on Naruto, the same jutsu you have now in your hands. At first we would stop hanging out with you, talked less with you only to forget you after some time. The only reason why the jutsu was so strong was because of the necklace he kept wearing. We forgot you because he had higher connections with you than us. Well more than with me anyway. We were like best friends, Naruto was like a brother to you as was Sasuke. I couldn't figure it out at first but I finally get it now that Naruto also forgot you."

"Because Sasuke loves me," Sakura interrupted him. Her hands clenched at the paper whilst she turned her head away. "What a joke." Her voice lost volume but it was spit out with pure venom all the same.

"What is?"

"I always loved Sasuke and I wanted his affection so much…" She snorted and she finally lifted her head up. Hatred twirled within her eyes, her hands had already wrinkled the paper. "…and to think he's the reason I almost committed suicide."

"You did what?" Kakashi asked shocked. He'd thought it was her manner of speaking that it almost killed her, not that she really did it.

Sakura ignored him. "I would have succeeded if Tsunade hadn't come by then. Stupid woman never left me alone after that, afraid I would do it again. That's the reason she suggested me to be an ANBU captain and stopped handing me solo missions until she was sure I wouldn't kill myself while I was on one." She threw to scroll back to her partner, not wanting anything to do with it anymore.

"Do you know why he did it?" Kakashi asked softly, afraid that if he spoke any harder Sakura would release her anger on him.

"Yeah, he wanted to make sure I would be safe," Sakura snorted again. "I died so many times I lost count. To bad he won't get his revenge anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I killed him."

"What?! Sasuke?"

"No you idiot! Itachi." Sakura snapped at him. "On the retrieval mission I killed him. He wasn't as much of a fight as I'd thought he'd be, but his almost blindness didn't work in his favour either."

"Does Sasuke know you killed his brother?"

Sakura shook her head whilst standing up. She walked over to the entrance of the cave and kept standing near the edge. Her eyes slid over the woods beneath them before tilting her gaze to look up to the stars. "No, I didn't tell him."

Silence spread between them, both of them lost in their own thoughts. It seemed like a century before Kakashi finally spoke up again. "Can you forgive me?"

"No." Kakashi's eye widened from shock and stared at Sakura's back full of disbelief. He told her everything and still she didn't have the heart to forgive him.

"I can't forgive you for something that wasn't you're fault, I don't need to," Sakura turned around and stared straight into his eye. "But that doesn't mean we're friends again."

She tilted her head downwards whilst biting her lip. "I can't just pretend that this didn't happen and nothing is wrong between us. I need time to get over this."

"I understand."

"But I have a question."

"Go ahead and ask."

"Back in The Broken Bottle, the jutsu wasn't broken yet. How come you came after me after all?"

Kakashi's eye widened at her question. How was he supposed to answer that? He couldn't just tell her he loved her, but there just wasn't any other option. She'd read the scroll, she would figure it out on her own even if he didn't tell her so he had no choice. Sighing he took a deep breath and the moment he was about to tell her he had feelings for her she turned around sharply, holding up her hand while she gaze was focused on something outside.

He kept his mouth shut and watched as Sakura grabbed a small blade from her belt and sneaked to the edge. She looked like a panther waiting for her prey the way she was squatted on the ground. Her fingers of her left hand curled over the edge near her left feet while her other leg was bent at the knee and her right hand near her lower back with her small blade ready to strike through the enemies.

Kakashi shoved his headband off his eye and stood up soundlessly. He walked over to where Sakura was and kneeled down beside her. Only then did he notice four different chakra signals below them.

"Do you have the skill to hold on to an illusion for months?" Sakura asked quietly.

"No, I can do it for a week tops, my chakra control isn't as perfect as yours is."

"Thought so, there's some black hair due in my bag, use it. It's time to impress the enemy."

With a short nod Kakashi walked back into the cave while Sakura kept watch. She already changed her looks into Tyana's. Long black hair pulled into a messy bun, a golden bracelet adorned her right bicep and a black and red tabard dangled between her legs. Instead of the high heels she wore before as her footwear was now replaced by knee long boots with a small heel. Black leather straps wrapped around her wrist, serving as lower arm protectors, and her legs were covered by black pants.

Her emerald eyes never left the enemies beneath her, her grip on her small steel blade became tighter while the seconds passed away. As silent as the grave she waited for the right moment.

"I'm done."

Using that as a start sign she leaped of the edge, landing soundlessly on the ground before taking off into the woods. She was already locked on her target and with rapid speed she threw her small blade into the person's heart, killing him immediately. While she jumped by she pulled her now blood stained blade out of him and looked at the tabard the man was carrying. It was dark blue with a red phoenix in the middle. She snorted and tilted her gaze up to the person who came to stand beside her.

"Aren't we supposed to impress them? How do we do that if they don't even see you killing them?"

Sakura chuckled, bending down and wiping her blade off with the man's tabard. "You'll see." Her fingertip glowed with a chakra for a moment before she touched the body. He turned into dust immediately. With that done she came back up her eyes scanning the area around them whilst putting her short blade back on its spot by her belt. The other three signals were already gone just like she expected. She wondered why they were stationed so far away from Akira's home. It was still al least a six hour walk from here. Something wasn't right.

"Grab our stuff, we're leaving tonight."

"Is something wrong?"

"Just do it!" Sakura snapped at him. She didn't want him to question her right now.

If the guards were further away from the target, it meant they were on the move. Kneeling down on the ground, her hand raced through four seals before touching the ground. Her eyes turned into a luminous light and a small shock was sent through the earth beneath her. She could see everything clearly five miles around her. There were more guards than usual and a carriage already moving further away in the opposite direction from them. It moved at a high speed and soon after that it was out of her range. Sighing she dispelled the jutsu when she saw Kakashi was almost near her again. Even if something important was transported away, they would never catch it, not now.

Grabbing her bag she threw it over her shoulder whilst giving a quick thank you. While taking off again, Sakura's started telling him what was going on. Half way there they came across three guards. They stopped on a thick branch, Sakura throwing her bag on a split so it wouldn't be seen or fall off the tree before tilting her head to look at Kakashi.

"You take the left one, I'll kill the other two."

"You still haven't answered my question why we're killing them."

"I already told you, you'll see when we meet them."

Kakashi sighed, throwing his bag to the place Sakura left hers and nodded. "Fine, keep your secrets."

"Come on Kakashi, this isn't the time to sulk, you'll understand it in a few minutes."

Her hand grabbed her short blade she'd used earlier. Kakashi jumped away to the guard on the left, who'd just walked away from the other two. _ 'Stupid man.' _Sneaking upon his opponent he slit his throat before the man could blink. He fell down to the ground while Kakashi stared down at the corpse before him. He heard a scream then to the right and lifted his head to see one of the guards running away. He stood up quickly whilst grabbing a kunai but saw something shiny flying in that direction before the man fell to the ground. Walking back to where Sakura was he saw a head detached from the body.

"Why didn't you silence the other? You know he could have warned the others." Kakashi scolded slightly at Sakura.

"That's exactly what I wanted him to do." She walked in the direction of her blade and yanked it out just like before. The moment she came back up, her smirk widened when she was surrounded by katana points aimed for her slender body.

"Hey guys." Sakura greeted them with a wave of her hand.

"Well, well, well. You've dome me quite a favour girl," a woman voice spoke up from behind the sharply blades. "I don't want any slacking guards on their posts. You saved me some time."

"You're welcome," Sakura said while bowing slightly. "I'm honoured to be in your presence."

A snap of fingers was heard and the katana's were sheathed away. "You should be girl. What's your purpose here?"

A woman with waist length blonde hair stepped up, her brown eyes scanning Kakashi's form before turning her gaze to Sakura. "I see you've already worked for us," she pointed out when she saw the black tabard adoring the woman.

Sakura bowed again. "Yes milady, I did. I worked for milord Keamon. I was gone on a mission when the attack happened. I've searched for the Scryers since then."

"Why would you search for us?"

"Because milord Keamon always spoke so high of you and I wanted to continue to work for the Syndicate."

"How was your relationship with Keamon?"

"He was one of the best leaders, milady. I was one of his most trusted followers. It hit me hard when I heard he was killed."

"What's your name?"

"Tyana Etsuko, milady, at your service."

"Ah, then you're most welcome Tyana Etsuko, a friend of my fiancé is a friend of mine. Who's that guy behind you?"

"That's Naosuke Kaito. I met him on my search for you milady. He's a skilled fighter."

"Very good, Dayu will bring you to your quarters."

"I thank you milady."

The blonde woman smiled at Sakura before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. A short man who seemed to be mid twenties came up to them. "Follow me please."

"Can you wait for a second? I need to get my bags."

When they had their stuff back, they were taken to the mansion Sakura knew very well. They was lead through corridor after corridor before finally stopping in front of an oak door.

"This will be you're quarters from now on. Since you already know each other you'll be sharing. I'll come wake you up at 7 for breakfast and after that the training will begin. Your new uniforms are in the closet." With that said Dayu turned away and walked back in the direction they had just come from.

Kakashi opened the door and saw two beds in each corner and two closets. There was another door probably leading to the bathroom and that was it. Throwing his bag on the nearest bed, he let seated himself next to it. Sakura closed the door behind her and scanned the room before signalling Kakashi it was safe.

"That went easy," He says softly.

Sakura nodded and threw her bag in the closet before sitting upon her own bed. "One thing I learned from being in Syndicate, they hate slackers. That's why I ordered you to kill one of them. Because you killed one of the slackers you're considered as a friend and highly skilled to be able to kill one of them."

Standing up again, Sakura placed most of her weapons down in her closet leaving all but one kunai. Putting it under her pillow she lay down and smiled when she felt nothing poking her back anymore. The mission had finally begun.

_**To be continued...**_


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Sorry for the late update. The exams are swallowing most of my time at the moment, so don't expect a quick update on this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 19:**

The next morning Kakashi woke up to constant knocking on the door. Opening his eye he turned his head to the left and saw to his surprise that Sakura's bed was already empty and made.

"Wake up you lazy dogs! I told you what time to be ready!" Dayu's angry voice rang from the other side of the door.

Behind Kakashi another door opened and Sakura emerged from bathroom. She threw a now damp towel on her bed before making her way to the door.

"My apologies Dayu-san, I lost track of time while I was under the shower. Can you forgive me?"

She opened the door wider and walked back into the room, leaving the door open for Dayu to walk in. His purple eyes took in the scene before him, Tyana was pulling her hair up into a messy bun and Naosuke was still lying in bed slowly waking up it seemed. Frustrated he pushed a dark blue strand of hair out of his eyesight and huffed.

"You I can forgive Tyana but that lazy bum over there, forget it."

Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly and he saw from the corner of his eye that Sakura's lip twitched up indicating a smirk. Inwardly he scowled at her. Why didn't she wake him up?

Sakura fastened her belt and slit her dagger in his sheath before turning to their supervisor once more. "I'm ready."

"I can see that." He replied giving an approving glance over her, one which made Kakashi clench his hand, he was itching to hit the man. His purple eyes went back to her face once more, a small smile adorning his lips. He opened his mouth to speak when another person walked into the room.

"What are you still doing here Dayu? The breakfast started ten minutes ago," the female spoke out.

Her reddish hair was cut short, barely reaching the nap of her neck, still there were a quite few bangs hanging before her eyes and almost touching her cheek. There was a golden ring adoring her right ear and her bright blue eyes which reminded both Sakura and Kakashi of Naruto stared quite annoyed at Dayu. Her hands rested on her hip while she glared at him, she wasn't tall but she wasn't exactly short either.

"That's our fault miss…" Sakura spoke out quickly.

The woman turned her eyes on Sakura deciding if she was friend or foe before deciding she was quite alright and extended her hand. "I'm Miya Tahani, I heard about you killing three guards last night."

"Tyana Etsuko," Sakura smiled, taking her hand and shaking it. "They were slacking on the job. You would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes."

"You're right. I'm going to be your escort for the rest of the day. Females train usually separated from the men but you probably already knew that since you worked for us before."

"Yes I've heard of it before but milord Kaemon didn't believe in such nonsense. He said that since girls and guys have to work together on missions then they also have to train together."

Miya smirked. "Sounds like him alright. Come on, I'll bring you guys to breakfast. You however," she looked at Dayu with slightly narrowed eyes. "…she wants to see you in her office immediately."

Sakura nodded turning her head to look at her partner; he was already out of bed, dressed and heading their way. Dayu sighed closing the door behind them before walking in the opposite direction they were walking. Sakura was talking with Miya while she led them to the breakfast hall. A big door opened and a room with rows of long tables came into their view.

It was already crowded and noisy, people talking to each other, screaming and laughing. Sakura sighed inwardly. She'd hoped after her first encounter with the Syndicate she wouldn't have to go through with it again, but it seemed like she'd ran out of good luck on that matter. They made their way to a table situated almost at the end of the room. Miya sat down and signalled Sakura to sit next to her.

"What's wrong with your friends face? We does he wear a mask?"

"Trust me, you don't want to see what's under there," Sakura said with a serious tone. Kakashi irked an eyebrow at her remark, his pride a bit damaged. He answered before Miya could respond.

"I wear it because I had an accident when I was young."

"Hmm, so you're disfigured then?"

Sakura chocked on her drink, coughing while she patted her chest. She chuckled at the glare Kakashi gave her and took a bite of her food. "No, I'm not. I simply don't feel comfortable showing my face with the scar I got."

"Well everybody has their strange quirks," Miya replied, turning her attention on her food and leaving Kakashi alone.

Sakura finished her plate quite fast and turned around to gaze at the people around them. She hadn't seen any of the staff she knew that worked here nor had she seen a sign of Hiro or Akira. She turned her attention back to Miya.

"I thought that you guys were in the Mountains far in the east by the Lightning Country."

Miya swallowed and took a sip of her drink before replying. "That's our main base. But since Elysium was destroyed and Infinity has another top priority we needed to take over Elysium's target. Now that we have the right hand of the Feudal lord of Grass under our command it won't take long before we go back to our main base."

"What do you mean by having the right hand of the Feudal lord of Grass under command?" Sakura asked, a bit tense what could have happened with Hiro or Akira.

"If that bloody guy doesn't listen to us, his sweet little daughter will die. We already sent her to master Kaeden. If one thing doesn't go to his liking the girl dies. I hope it does because I hate that little girl. Damn brat kept screaming that some Sakura-chan would come and save her."

Sakura froze. This couldn't be happening. Her half sister was sent away to another location they knew nothing about. And she was convinced she would come save them. She swallowed the lump in her throat and quickly looked the other way. She felt the questionable gaze of Kakashi on her but decided to ignore it instead.

They finished their breakfast and Sakura left together with Miya while Kakashi was escorted by another guy in charge. Sakura glanced out of the corner of her eyes to Kakashi and saw him doing the same. With a clear meaning she faintly nodded in the direction of their chambers indicating that they would meet later. It seemed that Kakashi understood her message since he titled his head down just a little before moving it back up.

Sakura turned her attention to the red haired female next to her and smiled at the remark she'd just made. "Just curious though. Where are we training?"

"We train in the forest and the open field within. The guys train in front of the mansion and the land before it."

"Ah."

Walking through the corridor Sakura caught a glimpse of a robe similar to one she saw Hiro wearing when she was being taken care of by the family. She wasn't hundred percent sure but it possibly meant he was still being kept in the mansion and not away on a business trip for the country. Maybe she could sneak up to him later today, when everyone was sleeping. She blinked a few times when the sun hit her eyes and sighed when she saw a small group of females waiting at the edge of the forest.

During the training she really got the impression this would be harder than she had imagined. She didn't have that much difficulty taking down those guards but it seemed as if those guys were the weakest of the group. The members she was training now with were much more skilled and she needed to keep her concentration so she wouldn't be hit by any of their attacks thrown at her. It seemed that Scryers was on a much higher level than Elysium.

That evening she got a few bruises when she lost her balance on a slippery piece of land. Walking into the same hall they shared breakfast, she could see her partner sitting on the same seat he'd occupied before. As if he felt she was watching he turned his head to her. Walking towards him she let out a sigh when she finally seated herself next to him.

"Rough day?"

"Hmm… I'll explain later," Sakura murmured back, her eyes following Miya who had just walked in the room. Her pace was hasty and it was definitely not her style to walk that way, she looked like a duck on dry land. She snickered slightly at her own comment and turned her head slightly to keep her attention on her. She opened the door on the other side and closed it with quite a force behind her.

"I wonder what's got her so nervous," Sakura said thoughtfully.

"That's none of you're business Tyana," a voice spoke out behind her.

They both turned around, staring at Dayu who stood behind them. He sat down next to Sakura and pulled some food on his plate. "My apologies, I'm still not used to the fact that I'm not one of the high ranking people anymore. Normally I knew everything that happened around Elysium," Sakura explained.

Dayu let out a short laugh. "It's alright girl. I know how it feels. But watch out though, milady Sayuri doesn't like people sticking their noses in her business. Only Miya and Ty know what's going on."

"So you don't know what's wrong with Miya-san, I'm worried."

"Trust me; Miya is strong enough to handle the things thrown at her."

Sakura looked up when the door opened again but this time Sayuri walked out followed quickly by Miya. But the look on Sayuri's face was making something tighten in her stomach, turning it in vicious knots. Something wasn't right and she didn't like it one bit. Miya's face was filled with concern and faintly confused while Sayuri looked like she wanted to kill someone.

The sound dampened in the room while Sayuri strode by, the only noise remaining in the room was the sound of her heels connecting with the dark grey stones that decorated the ground.

A guy with shoulder length black hair and golden eyes stood up and followed them out of the room. Kakashi turned his head to Sakura. His eyebrow rose when he saw the troubled gaze upon Sakura's face as she was looking in the direction he was looking at moments ago. Something was worrying her; the sign was that she was biting on her lower lip.

"Excuse me Dayu-san; I'm not feeling so good right now." Quickly Sakura stood up and made her way out. Kakashi waited for a few moments before standing up himself and used the excuse he was worried about his friend.

The moment he was out of the room he let out a small chakra burst and sensed Sakura sitting upon the roof of the east wing. Making his way there he finally saw Sakura in the darkest corner, her eyes fixed on the four figures below. Kakashi settled down beside her, his gaze flickering from his partner to the four people below.

"Why did you call me so late?!" Sayuri breezed angrily.

"I just found him five minutes ago. The moment I saw him I went to get you. Especially when I saw the tabard he was wearing."

"Whatever," Sayuri snapped. "Ty I want you to bring this guy to the infirmary and stay there until he awakes. When he does, call me."

"As you wish milady." Two of the figures left, leaving the two women behind.

"I want report a report of that Tyana girl."

"She quite strong milady, definitely someone we can send on the higher missions."

"Of course she's strong idiot! She was one of the people Kaemon trusted. What else can you tell me?"

"She quite a thinker milady, she can come up with a strategy to use in minutes. The training you suggested for her she passed with flying colours. Her team won every time."

"Hmm, very well. Keep an eye on her. I want to know more about her. What about that friend of hers?"

"He's weird milady."

Sakura choked at her statement. Her eyes flickered to Kakashi sitting beside her. His eye was narrowed and if he wasn't wearing a mask she was certain there would be a scowl on his lips.

"He's lazy, sat down by a tree the whole time but when he was attacked he didn't get a scratch on him."

"Good, it means he's just like Tyana said he was."

"Is there progress with Hiro?" Sakura perked up, straining her ears to hear every word that would be said next.

"Ever since we sent his daughter away he's done everything we ask of him without hesitation. We only need him for a few more weeks before we have grass completely in our control."

"That's wonderful news milady. Master Kaeden will be pleased to hear good news."

"Just keep me updated on Tyana and his friend. I'm going back inside."

"Yes milady, of course." She replied before they walked away.

Sakura kept silent, watching the place where the two women had stood not long ago. Who was the guy that lay there on the ground? She had to be careful though, seeing as Sayuri had her eyes on her and Kakashi, they needed to watch their steps. She sighed and turned her head up to look at the full moon. There was something going on here, something she really didn't trust.

"Kakashi, did you see something today you found weird?" She asked softly.

"Hmm, not really. I only found out that there will be patrols through the halls and on the ground. But you already knew that of course." Sakura nodded and stood up.

"Yeah, I did. Let's go back to our room before they get there before us."

The next week everything went by in a rush. Sakura sometimes caught a glimpse of Hiro walking through the halls. But it seemed he was always accompanied by three guards at all times. It seemed her training with Shizune in poisons would come in handy if she wanted to get Hiro safely out of here. But to do that she needed to be sure Akira wouldn't be killed in the progress. If that master Kaeden, Miya mentioned found out Hiro had escaped, Akira would be dead before she could reach her. And there was the fact that she didn't know where Akira was being held.

Kakashi asked about her though, it seemed he'd caught her hurt and shocked expression that moment at dinner. She told him everything, including their connection through her mother. It concerned him a bit, knowing that Akira was family of the pink haired woman before him. He wondered if she could take the blow if something went wrong and Akira was to die. Could she handle the pressure and deal with it in the right way when time called for it? Since he hadn't worked with her for years he didn't know how she would handle these kinds of situations or any situations for that matter. Sure the things he had seen that night when they entered Scryers was proof of why she was an ANBU captain. She killed as a silent assassin, and a very deadly one at that. When she only turned her head to look at him while she was crouched over the body of her target her eyes stood dark and still, making him shiver slightly and the hair rise at the nape of his neck. Never had he seen such a dark look, as if she'd turned off every emotion a human being could have. She'd probably even surpassed him already with her skills.

Two weeks after their arrival they only found out that Hiro was held underground when he wasn't needed. The person that had arrived the night after their arrival was still in the infirmary, recovering from the wounds he had.

Sakura walked into their room, releasing her black hair from her tie whilst kicking the door shut and let herself fall down on her bed with a heavy sigh.

"Hard day?" she heard from next to her.

Sakura grunted. "Sayuri wanted to speak with me today."

"Oh." Kakashi sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of his bed while his hands rested on the cotton sheets beneath him. "What did she want?"

"It seems I passed her little test." Sakura said sitting up and lifting her shirt a bit up. The scar he had seen back in the hospital in Konoha wasn't a scar any more; there were still a few dry blood streaks on her skin. The wound seemed to be healing but there was something added. Instead of the wings he'd only seen briefly, this time he could clearly she the shape of a phoenix upon her peachy skin.

His eye narrowed and he got up off his bed and kneeled before her in an instant. His right hand rested upon her upper thigh while his left hand carefully touched the injured skin. "Why did she do that?"

"It seems I'm now fully accepted in the group. Every person coming across the Syndicate gets the mark. Victims only get the wings, marking and scarring them for life. Letting them remember who has them in their power."

"But you had the same scar as the victims, didn't Sayuri find it weird?"

"She asked about it and I told her Kaemon wanted to make the mark but half way through he was interrupted by an important meeting. She seemed to take it."

"Hmm." He let her go and sat back down.

"Are you marked yet?"

"No, but Ty said Sayuri wanted to speak with me tomorrow after training."

"You're probably going to get the mark too." Sakura stood up, walking over to the window and looked outside. Her eyes shifted from the patrollers outside to the guards on each roof top.

At the corner of the left side of the house was a window, the only window in the hall that led to the dungeons below. Seeing that the door inside the house was always locked, that was their only way in and out to get in contact with Hiro seeing as he was being held there. But they faced a few problems. There were always three guards at his side, two at the entrance of his room and one in the room with him. And that was not all. The guards on the right side of the mansion had a clear view of that window and would spot them immediately if they tried to sneak inside. And of course then there were the ground patrollers, every five minutes a group of two walked passed the window.

Turning around again she stared at Kakashi giving a quick nod that it was time to use their plan. It wasn't fool proof but the best thing they had. Kakashi was to use his dogs to catch the attention of the guards on the roof. If they were lucky the ground patrollers would get distracted too. Right at that moment they would then slip in. If they didn't become distracted by the dogs then Sakura would use an illusion to distract them instead. Grabbing six small balls she'd placed under her pillow and placed them carefully in her pocket she followed Kakashi out the room.

They made their way outside without any problems and Kakashi summoned his dogs. Sending them into the woods Sakura poked her head around the corner to see the patrol coming their way. The guards on the roof were right above them. Turning her eyes to Kakashi he answered her unasked question. With a slight change of his chakra signal he signalled his dogs to start the diversion. Sakura's hands reached over five seals while the dogs started to bark.

"What the hell is going on there?" A guy spoke above her, probably one of the guards. But to her dismay the ground patrols only turned their head in the direction before resuming their way. Kneeling on the ground she released her genjutsu on the two, letting them see that nothing was wrong. Tilting her head up she saw that the guards on the roof were still distracted. Taking a deep breath she decided to risk it. Concentrating chakra into her feet she sprinted to the window, one foot clung on the wall while her hands pushed the window open and slipped inside.

Soundlessly she landed on the ground and with a quick scan through the corridor it seemed she was alone. Standing up and walking a few paces further she stared into the darkness in front of her. There was neither light nor candles lit and she stood still to let her eyes get adjust to the darkness. The window closed with a soft thud and she turned her head to see Kakashi standing next to her. Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding they walked further along. After two turns she heard the soft murmuring of the two guards posted outside Hiro's door. Leaning back against the cold stone wall she grabbed one of the balls she'd taken earlier.

"Hold your breath for a second," she whispered faintly before squeezing the small ball and rolling it over the floor towards the guards. Her chakra spiked a little before going back and the guards had already breathed in the poison that was contained in the ball, they sunk to their knees and hit the ground with a soft thud. Grabbing another ball from her pouch she quickly swallowed it.

Getting up from her place she walked over to the guards, she sensed that one was in the room while the other was in the bathroom. Seeing the difference between their signals she knew that Hiro was in the bathroom. Quickly turning around and taking the appearance of one of the guys lying on the ground she and Kakashi carefully carried the guards to the darkest corner of the corridor. She opened the door and saw a man with short blonde hair sitting on one of the chairs in the room.

The guy looked up and frowned when he saw her. "What's wrong Thor?"

"Just wanted to grab something to drink that's all," Sakura shrugged. She made her way to the mini bar she saw and turned her back on him. "Want some too?"

"Yeah sure, why not. Do you know what the hell was going on outside?"

"Some dogs were barking in the woods, probably hunting animals or something." She turned around again and handed the man his drink. Clinking their glasses together she made a move to drink her liquid and saw that the man before her around downed his drink. Smirking she activated it once again, and with a slump his head collided with the wooden surface of the table. She opened the door and nodded once to Kakashi who stood guard. "Everything is clear. Warn me if the guards outside start twitching."

"Sure thing," Kakashi smiled and leaned against the wall behind him. She closed the door, only leaving it open slightly. Right at that moment Hiro walked back into the room.

"What do you want?" He spat out in venom, glaring at her.

"Is that a way to greet an old friend?" Sakura asked faintly hurt. She dropped the illusion and smirked inwardly when she saw the shocked expression on his face.

"Sakura-san! You came!" He strode forwards, pulling the girl into a hug.

"Of course I came. I won't abandon friends," Sakura smiled faintly. "I know you have many things to tell me Hiro-san, and I would love to hear it. But I don't have much time. The poison I drugged the guards with will work out of their systems in a few minutes. So please answer quickly."

Hiro nodded and sat down upon his bed. "Do you know where Akira is being held?"

"Yes, she was taken to the hide out of Kaeden, the one who pulls all the strings in the Syndicate."

"Do you know where it is?" Hiro shook his head while his eyes saddened. "No, I only heard something about the Land of Snow. So I think it's there somewhere."

Sakura wanted to ask more but turned her head to the knocking on the door. "The guards are waking up," Kakashi said through the door.

"Great," Sakura muttered and turned back into her illusion. "Hiro, just act like you normally do. We don't want to arouse any suspicion. Hang in there alright? We'll get you out somehow."

"I owe you Sakura."

"You owe me nothing Hiro-san. It's the least I can do for you after you saved my life. Now I need you to go back to the bathroom and do whatever you did. When they wake they have to think they dozed off." She grabbed the two glasses and placed them back on the table she'd got them from.

Sakura went to walk out of the room; Kakashi had already dragged the guards back into their position's once more and beckoned Sakura to hurry the hell up. But Hiro grabbed Sakura's hand and looked at her with concern.

"Please be careful Sakura-san."

"I will," She smiled at him before she made her way back to the window. Kakashi glanced behind them and luckily didn't see anyone yet. He turned his head and looked at Sakura who stared outside. It seemed the patrol wasn't on their side yet, and the guards on the roof were looking in the other direction.

Opening the window soundlessly they jumped out graciously and Sakura kept her eyes on the guard on the roof while Kakashi was climbing out. Just right at the moment Kakashi went to close the window, Sakura saw a hint of clothes coming around the corner, the patrol was coming their way.

Panicking in her head she did the only thing she could think of at that moment. She pushed Kakashi against the wall whilst spinning him around, and before he could say anything, she pulled his mask down and their lips met.

_**To be continued…**_


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: I know it's a very short chapter for my terms, but I felt the need to stop there. The next chapter will be longer. I promise.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 20:**

There were three things Kakashi was aware of the moment her lips touched his own. First of all, she tasted just like he thought she would taste, sweet and soft just the way lips looked when he secretly ogled them while she slept. Second was the leg placed next to his waist, her lower body pressing against his. Her warmth swept through her clothes and spread into his, and not to mention the hand softly tugging on his silver hair strands. And last but not least, how had she become so fast she could pull the mask off his face and kiss him on the now bare lips before he could move to stop her?

Even though this was so wrong in many ways he couldn't help the natural reaction to sneak his arms around her waist and pull her if it was possible to get even closer than before and kissed back. First of all he was still a man with needs, and anyone in his place would do the same if the person haunting your wildest dreams were to push you against the wall and kiss you. He couldn't help but notice how well she fit against his own body, as if they were made for each other.

The question rose in his head why she was doing it but the answer came in the form of laughter at his right side, breaking the breathtaking kiss Sakura gave him. The only thing he could think the moment she pulled away was, first of all she was a damn good kisser, secondly and he groaned inwardly at this one, he wanted more. The only thing that he cheered for was that she was still in his arms. But that comforting warmth stopped the moment she pulled away, her hand unconsciously touching the uncovered skin on his neck, making him shudder slightly. He never was so sensitive to a mere touch, but then again, Sakura never touched him there before and the last couple of weeks it seemed every touch or gaze from her made him feel weird and all tingly inside.

"Damn you guys are so busted!" The patroller laughed.

Sakura smirked back, a teasing glint in her eyes as she looked at him. "Ah well, it surprised me you guys haven't noticed it yet."

"But aren't you guys sharing a quarter?"

Sakura nodded, sighing while she smoothed out the crinkles in her tabard. "Yeah, but the beautiful night was calling for a late night stroll along the edge of the woods. Sorry if we corrupted you're mind, Takeni-san."

"Haha, hell no. That happened many years ago when I walked in upon my parents." He shuddered, thinking back at the memory.

Sakura pulled a face, but her voice and her emerald eyes held an amusing glint. "Please spare me the details. I'd like to sleep tonight you know."

"I doubt that's that the only thing you're doing in those quarters of yours."

Sakura blushed, turning her head away. "Takeni-san, please stop it!"

The other patroller spoke up, glancing between the two. "Well, it's way past midnight. I suggest you guys go back to your quarters."

"Hai," Sakura and Kakashi replied in unison, Kakashi still a bit stunned about the whole ordeal. They turned around, Sakura grabbing his hand as they walked back to the main entrance.

Glancing to the side she saw Kakashi had already pulled the mask back its place. She sulked inwardly. With the haste she had moved, she didn't even have the chance to see what he looked like without his mask. Well she could say he really didn't have fish lips like Naruto suggested when they were still young genins that was for sure. The structure was more delicate and smoother than she'd thought it would be. But she couldn't say she'd hated having to kiss him, in fact she liked it. And that was what scared her the most. She'd cut off every pathway to her heart, building walls to keep her safe and him out this time.

But now on this mission with the silver haired jounin at her side was changing her, slowly the walls she had built to protect herself were crumbling down as if made from sand instead of stone. And it freaked her out. She didn't want to care anymore; she didn't want to love anymore, that was what she'd vowed to herself the day she was left out of team 7 not to do again. Because by giving your heart out, you give the person the power to destroy you but trusting them enough not too. And look how it went out when she gave her heart to her team. She was crushed, broken, shattered and thrown into a corner to bleed alone. Could she trust him again? Hope he could bring her old self back? The questions rising in her head started to give her a headache.

Opening the door to their quarters she walked in. Sitting upon her bed she looked down to the ground while she was still half lost in thoughts. She heard the door closing and from the corner of her eyes she saw two shinobi sandals walking her way, stopping right in front of her.

"Why did you do that?"

"Had to do something to cover us up."

"Uhuh…"

Tilting her head up she glared at the man before her. "What are you thinking in that head of yours?"

"I think you didn't do it for just a cover Tyana. You wanted to kiss me and used the patrol as an excuse to do so."

"You're delusional!" Sakura growled. "It didn't mean anything!"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "If you say so..."

"The kiss doesn't mean anything alright?! So stop pretending it was a big deal."

Kakashi pouted, the teasing glint was a dead give away that he was teasing her. "Not a big deal? You took my first kiss away."

Sakura growled, throwing her arms in the air in despair. "You're unbelievable!"

"I hear that a lot," Kakashi chuckled at her reaction. The frustrated look on her face, the flaming eyes and the wrinkled nose was all worth it. She looked so cute when she was all riled up.

Groaning from frustration, Sakura fell to the bed with her head on her pillow. "God, take me now!" Rubbing her forehead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Tyana-chan but that hot make out session and our night stroll took away all my energy. Maybe tomorrow night?"

"Shut up."

"Aww… honey, don't be like that."

"If you know what's good for you, then shut the hell up!"

Kakashi chuckled. He had ruffled her feathers more than enough tonight and if he kept going Sakura surely would kill him. Dropping on his bed and placing his hands behind his head he stared at the ceiling. Leaving her a few minutes to calm down, and making sure she wouldn't kill him when he spoke again, he carefully started to talk again.

"You do know what this means now, don't you?"

She turned around, still a bit irritated about earlier. "What do you mean?" she snapped at him.

"Well you know…" He suggested with his hands what he meant.

Sakura sighed, letting her head rest on her pillow yet again. "Yes I know." Silence fell for a few minutes before Kakashi spoke up again.

"So?"

"So what?" Sakura sighed.

"Are you okay with it?"

"I'm not a naïve little girl anymore Naosuke. I knew the consequences the moment I kissed you. As long as you keep your hands off certain places it will be fine."

"And if I don't?" Turning his head he looked at her he saw her form tense with rising anger once more.

"I'll make you wish you'd never been born," She growled lowly, sending shivers up his back. She turned on her side yet again, her back now facing him. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight…darling." A pillow was thrown at his head, making him chuckle. Giving back the pillow made sense since it was the only pillow upon her bed, and he earned himself a knock on the head in the process. But the way she crinkled her nose and glared at him was well worth it.

_**To be continued…**_


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate it ^^. I'm sorry to say that I won't be updating for the following two weeks. My schoolwork is killing me and I'll be working on a school project. So sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 21:**

The following weeks were for Kakashi able to be summed up in one word, confusing. Sakura seemed more pulled back then before. When they were out in public, she was sweet and acted like a girlfriend. But the moment the door closed she drew back to herself, not sparing a single glance at him.

He wondered what he'd done wrong to get such treatment from her. It was after all her idea to act like they were lovers. She was the one who'd pushed him against the wall and kissed him senseless. That kiss triggered something inside him, the same feeling he'd had from her back in that cave when she was pushed up against him. He knew he was falling for her then, and had tried everything in his power to stop it. But that kiss… wow. It didn't matter how hard he struggled, he'd lost the fight that very moment. There wasn't a time where he didn't think of Sakura. He wondered how her mouth would feel somewhere else on… _'Stop right there! I'm not going down that path.'_

Sighing annoyed he glanced at the sleeping girl on the other side of the room. He wondered what was going on in that head of hers. Hadn't he proved to her that he wasn't going to walk out of her life again? Had all of this ruined the chance of getting her back? What was he supposed to do to get her to trust him again? He had seen he way she looked at him, and that confused him even more. She always glanced at him when he thought she wasn't looking. Her eyes holding a dreaming glance, but the moment she noticed what she was doing her emerald eyes changed back into the black depths she always had within her, the broken and despair filling her beautiful eyes.

Knowing he wouldn't get the sleep now that his thoughts were racing through his head at a mile a minute, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Throwing the tangled sheets off of him, he waved his hands through his unruly black colored strands. His lone eye stared at her resting form, taking in how her hand clenched around her pillow, how her eyes squeezed shut and a scowl played on her lips. Standing up he walked over to her bed and carefully sat down on the edge. His hand hovered above her head, hesitating to comfort her in her sleep. She would probably kill him if she found out. He tensed as a gasp passed her lips, her hand clenching even further.

Only then did he notice a tear running down her cheek. Making up his mind he slowly started to stroke her hair. He felt how she tensed at his touch but slowly relaxed.

"Shhh, everything will be alright." And to his surprise she answered back.

"Please… don't… don't leave me." Another tear escaped her barrier and rolled down. Was she dreaming over that she was left behind by them?

"I won't leave you, now relax."

"Liar…you promised…" Confused he raised his eyebrow. What was she talking about?

"I promised you what?"

"To be there for me…now you've gone somewhere where I can't follow!"

"Who promised you to be there for you?"

"Dad please don't go… please…" Her father? Has he died? When? What happened?

Whipping away another tear that rolled down he visibly tensed when her eyes snapped open and stared at him with surprise. She swatted his hand away and sat up. Her hand reached her cheek and she knew she was crying. She didn't say anything and refused to look at him. Deciding to break the silence he softly started to talk.

"What happened to your father?"

"He died," Sakura replied after a few minutes. "He was on his way back home from a mission when he was attacked by Akatsuki. He ordered his team to go on while he would stay behind to fight them off. Three weeks later I found his body." Her hands clenched once again, her eyes narrowed as angry tears rolled down.

Flashback

"_Sakura-san, you need to stop soon. You haven't rested for three days!"_

"_I don't care. My father is out there somewhere, fighting for his life. I'm not stopping until I found him and that's final." Sakura growled back._

"_Sakura please!"_

_Sakura stopped on the next branch and glared at the man beside her. It was one of her father's team mates. "If you want to rest fine, go ahead. But I'm going on!" Pushing her feet off the branch she leapt through the woods. Her hand went to her pouch and she pulled out another soldier pill. Biting it down she felt the effects immediately. Forcing chakra into her feet, she pushed herself even further. _

_She had been searching for thr__ee days, promising her mother that she would bring her father back. But until now there'd been no success at all. Her eyes were narrowed and she didn't even wince when a branch cut her bare upper arm. She was in middle of her training in an ANBU training camp at the eastern border of the Fire country when she got the message that her father had gone missing. Not even caring about the consequences if she left, she grabbed her stuff and raced back home. She finally made it into ANBU, just like her father would have wanted. He was after all an ANBU captain himself. He had been so proud to hear that his daughter was following in his footsteps._

_Her hands clenched into fists,__ as she sped up even further. Finding the spot where her father's teammates had last seen him she stopped. Kneeling down on the ground she performed the necessary hand seals for the jutsu she was about to do. Slamming the palm of her hands on the ground she opened her eyes as she saw everything within a radius of five miles. Her heart missed a beat when she saw a limp form lying near the stream, four miles northwest of her._

_Running as if her life depended on it, she made her way to the river bank. Pushing away the low hanging branches she burst out of forest. Crossing over the open field she ran into another forest. __Her heart pounded in her ears as she neared her destination. Another low hanging branch cut a small scratch on her right cheek but she paid it no mind. The scent of a rotting corpse appeared in the air, slowly becoming stronger the closer she came to the river bank. She stopped when she noticed the limp body lying on the ground. Her heart missed a beat as she saw the condition it was in. It was covered in blood, his stomach ripped open, his arms lying at strange angles, his mouth opened in a silent scream as his head lay to the side. _

_Falling onto her knees she stared __in shock at the corpse before her, still breathing heavily from her long sprint. The smell was almost overwhelming and it would make someone with a soft stomach gag, just like the image she stared at. The lifeless eyes of her father stared at her and they'd already lost the sparkle of life. She couldn't believe it. Her father was gone, ripped away from her life. The place where his ANBU tattoo had always sat proudly on his left bicep was cut away._

_She noticed that his left hand was clenched in__to a fist. Her shaking hands reached to his, touching his half covered fingers. Grabbing the crumbled piece of paper from his grasp she saw it held a picture. Her breath hitched as she tried hard to keep breathing. It was a picture of her family, taken the night Sakura was accepted into ANBU. Her father smiling proudly while he held her in his arms, her mother smiled as she leaned against her husbands' side, her other hand resting on Sakura's shoulder. _

_She noticed that something hot and wet was rolling down her cheeks. Her heart pounding rapidly as she stared numb__ly at the picture she held in her hand. It was covered in blood, her father's blood. Her breath quickened and her widened green eyes slide from the picture back to the corpse that was her father._

"_No…no…this…I…" her mind raced trying to get__ a grip of her sanity while her heart was clenching painfully. "Dad…?" Her knee's buckled and she slid closer to the ground than she already was, her bottom now touching the grass._

"_DAD!!!"_

Flashback

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said softly. He knew the memory was killing her from the inside. "Do you know which one killed him?"

"Yes," her eyes burning with hatred. "It was Pein. Shizune pulled some single red hair strands out of one of his wounds. At least I got my revenge." a wicked smile now playing on her lips as she thought back to the memory.

Not wanting to ask what she had done, Kakashi remained silent. He stood up and could already see that the first sun rays were hitting the compound. Knowing that he couldn't sleep anymore he decided to go for a quick shower. However when he'd almost exited the room Sakura spoke up.

"What were you doing anyway?"

"You were having a bad dream. I merely wanted to comfort you."

"Why?"

"You're my team mate, it's my business to make sure you're well."

"Right." He knew without looking that she was rolling her eyes. Then something snapped in him.

"I don't know what you're thinking of me. But contrary to what you believe, I **do** care about you. What's with the self-defence anyway?"

"That question coming from the one person I know that's pushed people away his whole life."

He turned around, his eye narrowed with annoyance. "You know nothing about me!"

"Quite the opposite, I know everything." He saw Sakura getting up from her bed and start to put on her clothes. "So why don't you ask yourself that question before coming back to me."

The door opened and with a slam Sakura closed it behind her. Cursing softly he slammed his hand against the door opening. This was so not how he thought the day would go. He'd better let this rest for now he figured. Taking a quick shower and getting dressed he made his way to the dinning hall. He saw Sakura already sitting next to Miya and Dayu. Sighing he started to make his way towards them when he was stopped by Ty.

"Sayuri-sama wants to see you."

"Can I have a little bite before I go?"

"No, now follow me. It won't take long."

Sighing inwardly he followed the man through the big oak doors on the other side of the room, walking into a long corridor that only held one door in the end. Opening the door Ty held it open for Kakashi to walk in. It was a small room, a set of stairs leading to the upper levels and a door on either side.

Walking to the first floor Ty opened another door and turned left. At the end of that corridor he saw a set of double door once again, with two guards standing on guard. With a nod and a quick knock on the door, Ty walked in. He stopped and turned around, signalling Kakashi to walk in too.

"Naosuke Kaito is here as you requested Sayuri-sama."

"Good, now leave us." With a bow he turned around and walked away.

"So Naosuke," The woman turned around and stared at him with her chocolate brown eyes. Her arms were crossed over her chest and he could see the black tribal tattoo of a phoenix on her right wrist. Her eyes held a playful glint, as if she knew something. "I heard you hooked up with Tyana." Her eyes searched his and a smirk was placed upon her lips.

"Yes, it's true. But that happened…"

"I know boy, I don't care about my soldiers dating one another..."

"Then why do you ask, milady?"

Her eyebrow rose with surprise. She laughed shortly and stared at him with amusement. "You're the first one in this organisation to have the guts to interrupt me, that's either very brave or very foolish of you. Now tell me, how long have you known Tyana?"

"For four months milady, I met her when she was crossing the lightning country searching for Scryers."

"Good, so you didn't know her while she was still in Elysium?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No. Can I ask why you're interested?"

"It's none of your business. Tell me, why did you want to join Scryers?"

"I wanted to serve the goals Tyana told me were what the Syndicate was working on."

"Very well, when you see your girlfriend, I want you to send her to me. She knows the way."

"As you wish." Saluting the woman he walked away. This was very strange and he didn't like it one bit. What was going on? Was Sakura in trouble? He sighed frustrated knowing he couldn't do a thing to help her.

Finally finding her in the training grounds, he explained to Miya that Sayuri wanted to see Sakura. Being dismissed once again, he glanced one more time at Sakura before making his way towards his own training. Not that he'd really learned anything he didn't already know. Still it troubled him why Sayuri questioned him about his relationship with Sakura. Did she know something?

**xXx**

Confused why Sayuri wanted to speak with her, she started to make her way to her office. She already knew the way since she was summoned there a few times before. Once to get the now finished mark on her skin, two to talk about Sayuri's passed fiancé and thirdly and strangely enough just to talk about her time in Elysium. Knocking on the door three times she opened it and walked in.

Closing the door behind her she walked further into the room, noticing a person sitting on a chair to her right, and to her surprise it was someone she knew. Her insides froze at the sight of him but on the outside she stood calm and collected. Turning her gaze to the blonde woman in the middle she saluted to her as she waited to be spoken to.

"You got the message from your boyfriend I imagine?" Sayuri spoke out. Her eyes held a wicked glance as if she stared down a piece of prey. Sakura nodded, noticing how the smirk widened on her face. She didn't like it one bit.

"Why don't you say hello to an old friend of yours, Tyana Etsuko?" Sayuri questioned as she waved her hand towards the man sitting in the chair.

Right at that moment Sakura felt a painful shock of chakra running through her. Gritting her teeth she fell to her knees as her hands were captured by the two guards now standing beside her. Her illusion failed the moment the shock disturbed her control.

Her green eyes stared at the man now standing beside Sayuri. He was wearing a black tabard, his dark purple hair hanging in front of his left bandaged eye as he glared at her. Makuto Sheji, the left hand of Kaemon Tsutya, the man she thought she had killed when she transformed from her illusion to her normal appearance.

"Or should I say, Sakura Haruno."

_**To be continued**__**…**_


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: I planned to update next week since the project at school and all. But it seems my team is already far further on schedule then planned, I found the time to write :) I thank all my loyal reviewers, you all make the writing worth it 'hugs'. Personally i think the ending sucks a bit.

**WARNING:** this chapter is M rated for the graphic scene of torture. I'm really sorry for my loyal readers under the age of 18 but please for your own sake do **not** read the upper part of this chapter. The part that is safe for those under the age of 18 is below the **xXx**.

moonlight ookami: Thank you for that review, you really made me smile :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 22:**

The next time Sakura woke up she found herself in a chilled and darkened cell. Her arms were pulled up by chains connected to the ceiling, her wrists bound together by chakra absorbing cuffs. Around her neck was a thick metal collar, a chain was attached to it, the end of it attached to the wall and keeping her from moving away from her position just like the chains holding her arms up. The tabard she'd worn was gone, leaving her in her black leather pants and a black undershirt. The leather wraps she had around her wrists up to her elbow were also gone, but her skin was covered in red marks, indicating it was simply torn off her. Her head throbbed painfully as if a knife was cleaving through her skull. On her right cheek were four cuts, and dried blood covered the lower part of her face and her clothes.

Tilting her head up, the iron chains rattled with her movement. Pulling on her arms she tested how strong it was and noticed that without her chakra she couldn't do a thing to break free. Leaning back against the cold stone wall she let out a shallow breath, trying to remember what had happened to lead to this point.

Flashback

"_Or should I say Sakura Haruno?"_

_Keeping a calm__, collected mind she simply stared at the two now standing before her. It seemed that action didn't sit well with Sayuri, since her wicked smile turned to a scowl. Her hand came up and slammed Sakura in the face. Closing her eyes briefly with the impact as her head turned to the left. Coughing slightly while opening her eyes she stared at Sayuri with an is-that-all-you-can-do look. Sayrui yanked her up by her collar forcing her rudely onto her feet._

"_Do you really think that you could fool me girl?"_

"_It seemed to work just fine until his arrival," Sakura replied mockingly, nodding her head in the direction of M__akuto. The result was another slap in her face, her cheek stinging and slowly colouring red._

"_I'm going to have so much fun breaking you," Sayuri smiled as her left hand came up and her fingernails dragging over Sakura's right cheek. __Her breath hitched as she felt the warm thick fluid slowly dribbling down her skin._

_The gold coloured eye of Makuto glared at her with hatred. He stepped away from the desk and stopped mere inches before her. His bandaged hand sneaked up and grabbed her pink hair. "You didn't do a good job finishing me off girl! And I__'ll make you regret it the rest of your pathetic life." He slammed his fist into her stomach, making her double over. His hand behind her head kept her in that position as his knee came up, colliding with her nose._

_A low grunt escaped__ her mouth as she saw her own blood trickle down onto the carpet. A hard shove in the back made her fall forward, and the last thing she saw was a black boot coming towards her face before she lost consciousness. _

Flashback

How long have she been out? Was Kakashi already suspiscious and figured out that she'd been caught? Was she even in the same building? The memories she had when she was recovering here weren't exactly of the basement or dungeon. Her eyes lifted from the ground to the iron door at the other side of the room, far beyond her reach. It was the only entrance to this prison and with no doubt Sayuri or Makuto or both would return. As if they sensed her regaining consciousness Sayuri walked in several minutes after.

Her green eyes squinted together as a bright ray of light lit the dark prison. Looking through her pink bangs she noticed the cruel, sadistic look on her face. Her eyes glinted with sick amusement over what she was about to do. Casting her look down Sakura remained silent as Sayuri freed her metal collar from the chain attached to the wall. Stepping back slightly, she reached for another chain before attaching it to the collar. Keeping it firm in her grasp she released Sakura's handcuffs from the chain hanging from the ceiling. Lowering her arms to the height of her chest, Sayuri clicked the chain holding the cuffs together to the iron chain in her hand.

Without a second look she turned around and pulled Sakura with her. Feeling the sudden jerk, Sakura stumbled up walked forward a few steps before she lost her balance. She winced as she was dragged over the floor. Trying to regain her balance, Sakura stumbled upright once again and this time walked as close as the chains would allow to Sayuri so she wouldn't fall again.

She was thrown into another room, hitting the opposite wall before sliding down. Dully she noticed somebody pulling her up, unlocking the cuffs around her wrists as she was placed upon a chair. Her arms were pulled behind her back and cuffed together once again. Her legs were spread out and locked to the ground. The chain attached to her metal collar was held through a ring on the floor before being pulled back up and locked to the ground.

Looking at her surrounding she noticed a tables of implements. There were no windows here, the only light in the room came from the lit candles standing in the candle sticks standing in each corner. The only entrance was the door she'd just come through. On the ceiling were more chains were hanging, some of them with cuffs on the end. She noticed a few more torture devices either hanging on the wall or standing against it. Turning her gaze to the blonde haired woman standing before her she knew what was ahead of her. She'd been brought to a torture room.

The door opened once again and the familiar figure of Makuto Sheji walked in. Slamming the door with more force than was truly necessary, clearly in an attempt at intimidation he walked over where Sayuri was standing. They spoke in hushed tones before they finally turned their attention to her.

"Any last words before our session begins?" Sayuri asked sweetly. Sakura remained silent not wanting to grant her anymore pleasure then she was already was gaining.

"Alright, since you don't want to speak…Makuto make our guest ready."

"With pleasure." Sakura watched as he ripped her shirt apart, throwing the piece of cloth onto the floor. Then he ripped off the bindings and throwing those to the floor as well. "Anything else you want me to remove other than a few choice body parts?" Makuto asked with full sarcasm and he turned his golden eye to the woman standing behind him.

"Now, now Makuto, we shouldn't rush to the finale," Sayuri said with a mocking tone, her eyes shining with amusement and cruelty. "Torture is in some respects like sex. In order to reach the climax there needs to be foreplay. There's of course going to be pain on her part…a great deal of it."

Sakura watched the blonde female looking at the table of implements trying to decide what to start with. She had quite an arsenal at her disposal. She picked up a cat o'nine tails and made her way over to Sakura.

"I'll make you pay for killing my dear fiancé," her eyes narrowed and the smirk on her lips widened sadistically. Her hand cupped her untouched cheek and stroked it one more time before straightening up and stepping a bit backwards.

"Now, how did this work again?" She wondered out loud. "Oh yes, it was something like this!" She cracked the whip down across Sakura's naked chest.

Sakura's eyes widened, a yelp escaping from her mouth. She struggled against her chains but they kept her firmly in place. She pulled so hard that the cuffs cut into her skin, a small stream of blood now trickling over her skin onto the floor. Sayuri struck time and time again, after every hit she put more force behind the next one. Several times the nine leather straps struck Sakura's bare flesh leaving an impressive group of welts behind. Sakura whimpered and moaned in pain, biting her lip to keep her them from just bursting out.

"Yes! Yes that's it. Scream for me Sakura! Scream!" Sayuri laughed out.

She only stopped when Sakura was shaking from the pain inflicted by the whip. Cracking the whip one last time she gave the whip over to Makuto and made her way back to the table. This time she as she looked over the instruments she picked up something that looked like a very long sewing needle with a handle and two curved ends coming out at the sides. Sakura eyes widened slightly as she remembered the instrument. It was the same thing Ibiki would use against the prisoners that needed to be interrogated; it was called a misery cord.

Sayuri kneeled down in front of her and started to drag it slowly across the red welts on Sakura's peachy skin. At first the sensation was nothing more than an irritating burn but then Sayuro started to push it into the skin, the point penetrating the first layer. A small stream of blood began to flow from the wound. She continued to drag the dagger down until a long laceration was left behind with tiny streams of blood flowing out of the wound. She did the same with every welt until there were at least six long lacerations left behind on her skin.

Sakura grit her teeth and fought down the urge to scream. She noticed Sayuri getting up but this time it wasn't Sayuri who approached her; it was Makuto kneeling down before her with a candle in his hand.

"Does it not feel wonderful? This is the pain you brought to us by taking down Elysium! And trust me, it will get much worse." He poured the hot wax on her freshly made wounds until every wound was covered in a layer of candle wax.

He waited for it harden before continuing his work. He smiled cruelly as he held the candle's flame to the waxed places on Sakura's already stinging flesh. At first she only felt a warming sensation as the wax began to melt. Than came the searing pain of flame meeting her skin. The tiny fire began to sear the wounded flesh as Sakura screamed out in agony. Makuto laughed as he guided the candle down slowly over the melting wax on Sakura's skin and searing Sakura's welted flesh. Sakura flailed wildly as she tried to free herself from her bonds holding her on the chair but it was in vain, the chains resisted every pull and kept her in place as the pain continued screaming through her body.

After Makuto was satisfied that he'd done enough with that particular weapon, he pulled away the candle and walked back to the corner of the room to place the candle back in its holder. Making his way back to Sakura, he released the chains holding her to the ground. Roughly he pulled her out of the chair. Her knees buckled under her own weight as she fought to regain the strength to keep her standing. She was turned around, her arms raised as she was locked once again to the chains hanging from the ceiling. He disappeared from her sight and she heard something being picked up from the table.

She cried out in pain as Makuto snapped her body with a bull whip. The whip cracked again and cut mercilessly into her skin. At first it only left an angry red mark behind on her bare back. As he struck again however the point lashed mercilessly against her tender flesh and drew a tiny stream of blood. Makuto continued striking her with the whip. The hard, taunting leather and needle fine point cut into her skin time and time again until her back was covered in bloody stripes of raw flesh.

From the corner of her eyes she saw Sayuri sharpening her nails with file. The sound of leather meeting flesh stopped and Sakura saw Sayuri making her way towards her. Sayuri dragged her nails slowly across the whip marks on her back and the wounds on her chest. As if her body had not endured enough torment, now it was being subjected to even more. Her strength was waning as her pain limit was reached. Sakura cried out loudly as her nerves were assaulted with searing pain once more. Her skin burned from the stinging lashes of the whip and the painful wounds on her chest. The slow scratching made every sensation complete and utter agony. The torture was agonizing and Sakura lost her strength to resist. She didn't even have the strength to cry out in pain anymore. Her flesh was screaming and burning like fire and slowly she lost her consciousness.

The second time she awoke she was lying on her side, back in the prison she'd woken in the first time. But this time Sayuri was sitting in the corner, playing with a dagger she had in her hands. Whimpering as she sat up she felt her skin stretch and scream at her movements. Her wounds hadn't healed yet and the dry streaks of blood that had flown out of her wounds were still sticking to her skin.

Sayuri's head perked up at her whimper and she smiled softly as she watched how Sakura struggled to keep in the pain filled hitches. Standing up she made her way towards Sakura and stopped mere inches from her to crouch down on her knees.

Her emerald green eyes lifted from the ground to the dagger Sayuri held in her hand, and lingered there a few moments before looking into her chocolate coloured eyes.

"Do you know whose dagger it is I'm holding in my hands Sakura?" She asked softly.

Sakura shook her head in the negative, to tired to even speak.

"You should know, you served him for months. But as the good person I am, I'll help you to remember."

Before Sakura could blink she felt the cold tip of the dagger touching her recovering skin before Sayuri dragged it down, leaving a bloody trail behind. A low grunt asked her barrier as a new wave of pain swept through her veins.

"Do you remember yet?" Sayuri asked smirking, dragging another line across her skin.

Her breathe hitching in pain Sakura failed to answer much to Sayuri's pleasure.

"Hmmm, I see I'll have to try harder." She threw Sakura flat on her stomach and sat down upon her lower back.

"Then maybe this will refresh your memory." And with that said she started to engrave the name of her past lover into Sakura's back. Sakura screamed out in pain, hot thick blood now streaming down her skin.

"Say it Sakura! Tel me to who this dagger belongs to!"

"Keaaahhmon!" Sakura grunted out, twitching in pain.

Sayuri smiled, proceeding to make cuts upon her skin. Only when her back and a big part of her prison were drenched in her blood did she stop. Walking over to the place where she once sat, she grabbed a cup filled with a red substance.

"Do you know what I hold now in my hands?" Sakura shook her head yet again.

She sat down once again upon her and smelled a mixed smell of spice, salt and pepper. Sakura screamed out in agony when Sayuri slowly began to pour the red mixture upon her now open wounds. It stung terribly, feeling like thousands of needles were pushed with blinding force into her skin. Withering and moaning from the pain she couldn't take it anymore. Getting up and deciding she had tortured Sakura enough for now Sayuri left the room and locked the door.

Sakura didn't know how long she'd been out since her last torture. Her skin itched and burned. The blood was still flowing down from the freshly made wounds upon her back. Sakura staggered to her feet, but that was as far as she got before she slid to her knees with a sudden feeling of sickness and nausea swamping her. She pressed her forehead into the cold stone, shuddering and mentally groaning when she felt the sticky blood along with the stone. Her nausea didn't ease up, swimming through her body in waves. The world seemed to spin, and she found herself on her back with a lone onyx eye looking into her own. She didn't even notice that the door had opened once again. A metal clang was heard and the cuffs cutting her skin were finally released from her wrists. She heard a deep rumbling sound and straining her senses she barely understood what he was saying.

"Stay with me girl, I'll get you out."

She flinched when his hand touched her damaged back, breath hitching softly at the shock of pain rushing through her veins. The faint smell of the red mixture mixed with the coppery scent of blood filled her nose and almost made her gag at how strong it was. She noticed that something was wrapped around her torso before she was lifted into somebody's arms. The pressure the arm placed upon her back made her whimper slightly and she bit down her lip to not let any sound escape. The last thing she noticed was a rush of cold air across her skin before she closed her eyes from exhaustion.

**xXx**

Carrying the limp young woman away in his arms he nodded at Pakkun as a sign that he'd got her. Following the pup through the corridors and sneaking out of the building he cursed softly as a snow blizzard was going on outside. Wrapping Sakura better in his thick travelling cloak he left the building and made his way to his hideout.

When he finally reached the cave he carefully placed the unconscious woman in his arms on the ground. Quickly creating a fire he rubbed his hands together for warmth. The only good thing about this blizzard was that his tracks would be gone by now, so no one could track them down.

Glazing to the woman laying on the ground his heart throbbed painfully when he saw the condition she was in. How could he let this happen? The moment Sakura didn't come back that evening he'd known she was in trouble. The next morning he saw a man in a black tabard Sakura wore on the evening of their infiltration sitting next to Sayuri. He knew instantly Sakura was captured. When he asked Ty where Sayuri was when he hadn't seen her for the following two days, Ty replied that she'd gone to the Snow country for some business.

That night he gathered his supplies and summoning his trustworthy Pakkun, he ordered him to find Sakura. This had led to where he was now, stuck in a cave with a woman who'd been tortured for days. His mind couldn't even comprehend the things she must have gone through.

Laying down his sleeping bag close to the fire he carefully picked up Sakura again and placed her upon it for some comfort. Pushing away his cloak he winced when he saw the wounds upon her chest staring back at him. He still could see some candle wax clinging to her skin.

Slowly he began to treat the wounds as best as he could. He knew some basic healing jutsu but nothing more than that. Pressing a wet piece of cloth against her wounds he started to clean them. Seeing her shiver from the cold, he summoned his pack to keep her warm.

Time passed by as he took care of her. But what he didn't count on was the blazing high fever that her body worked up. He tried everything in his power to bring it back down. Sakura whimpered, moving her head side to side. Her green eyes slowly opened and she took in a shallow breath.

Blinking a few times she noticed a silver mop flying in front of her and something warm lying against her side and moving. Something wet collided with her cheek and turning her head to the side again she stared into the face of Pakkun.

Coughing slightly and turning her head once again she closed her eyes in pain. Her body felt as if it was on fire, every move she made sent a wave of searing pain through her nerves. Feeling a cold cloth dipping onto her skin she opened her eyes once again warily, staring into the one eye of her saviour.

"Ka...kashi," She whispered, forcing it out of her throat. She sounded so weak and fragile, it only made Kakashi's heart clench more. He decided this really didn't suit her. He had seen how strong, amazing and capable shinobi Sakura was, and he didn't like it one bit to see her so weak before him.

"Shh, you've gone through a lot. Save your strength."

Wanting to reply again she found herself again wracked with a coughing fit, but this time much to Kakashi's horror, blood was coming out of her mouth. She watched numbly as Kakashi tried everything to save her. But she knew after all that she'd been through, her body didn't have the strength to survive a heated fever. Arching her back as another coughing fit came upon her, she almost choked on her own blood coming up with her salvia.

She felt his hand brushing away her strands of hair as she was pulled into his arms. Lifting her eyes up she summoned all her strength to lift up her hand and touch his cheek.

"Kashi…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry."

"Don't give up Sakura, fight against it. I forbid you to give up fighting it."

She blinked as something wet fell upon her forehead, and then the realization hit her. Kakashi was crying over her. Her first real smile in four years reached her lips and even managed to reach her emerald green eyes, a soft smile even as the strength failed her. Her hand fell down and she blinked rapidly to stay awake. She felt his grip around her tighten and the last thing she heard before the darkness surrounded her and she slipped away in the comfortable embrace of unconsciousness surprised her more than ever.

"I love you Sakura, please don't leave me!"

_**To be continued…**_


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Thank you to everyone that reads my story and taking the time to review. I'm glad you guys like it so much. Always a wonderful feeling to see your work is appreciated and people taking time to show you.

Anna: Thank you allot for the review you gave me, I'm glad you like my stories so much. And after Left behind is finished I'll start on the sequel, promise ^^.

Cheekydemon: Thank you for the review :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 23:**

Darkness. Neither wind nor sound was there, nothing but an empty black void was all Sakura saw surrounding her. Twirling around to search for something familiar she looked and didn't see a thing. Only then did she notice she wasn't wrapped in Kakashi's and her own travelling cloaks. Touching her stomach, her arms, she could feel she was wearing her ANBU uniform, and on her head rested her fox shaped porcelain mask. The wounds of the torture she'd gone through even the pain she'd felt back in the cave were gone.

Was this the after life? Was this all that was waiting for her, an empty black void? Sighing she turned around and sat down on the ground, well she assumed it was the ground anyway. Crossing her legs and resting her arms upon her thighs she took in a deep breath, her eyes fluttering close. Inhaling a deep breath once again she slowly released it only to repeat the motion over and over. Why was she here? What was the purpose of all this? Her eyebrows knitted together. The must be a reason why she was here, now if only she could discover it. Did she need to look back at her life? Was she meant to be having remorse for treating her team like that, or her friends that didn't abandon her for that matter? Should she have reacted different?

"If you keep sitting like that, you're bound to get a sore back eventually."

Her eyes fluttered open, desperately searching for the source. Unfolding her legs she stood up, but still she was alone, well her eyes told her that. But deep in her heart she knew **he** was there.

"Really girl, am I that hard to find?" A voice sounded from behind her. Turning around she took a hesitant step towards the sound.

"That's it girl, follow my voice."

Taking another step forward Sakura started to walk in the direction of **his** voice and slowly her steps started to quicken, only for her to end up running. At first her surroundings didn't change and slowly she started to lose hope. She stopped running, too exhausted to go any further. Tears welled up in her eyes as she panted to catch her breath. She wanted to see him so bad, to feel the welcoming embrace that she'd missed so much. To see those bright blue eyes that were always looking at her with pride and love, his short, red hair that had shocks of gray threaded through it and showing his age. With her head tilted down, she sobbed silently.

"Come dear, stop crying. You're almost there." A short silence fell and Sakura stiffened when she felt a hand wiping away her tears. "Take my hand."

Quivering slightly she blindly grabbed his hand, felt him pull to haul her up and lead her further into the darkness. A white flash of light appeared making Sakura squeeze her eyes shut at the brightness. But when she opened them, she let out a small gasp.

The deep, dark void had vanished and made way for her home. Well the home she'd grown up in. She was standing on the porch and the door before her was open in an inviting manner. The hand she'd held was gone, and the feeling in her stomach told her that the person she was searching for was waiting for her behind the door.

Swallowing the lump forming in her throat she pushed the door further open and stepped into her old home. It was just the way she remembered it. Walking through the hallway she glanced into the living room. He wasn't there so she made her way to the kitchen next. He wasn't there either, and then she finally understood where he was. Running back into the living room and hallway she ran into the study to another corridor leading to the backyard. Throwing the door open she stopped frozen in place, her eyes focused on the figure sitting on the railing of the porch.

He was just like she remembered him, lean, a bit muscular, and with short red hair reaching to the nape of his neck. The door clicked close behind her, her head turning slightly at the sound to look back before focusing her concentration on the man before her.

"What no hug?" Came a mocking question.

Sakura smiled, her limps starting to make her move and she hugged the man from behind. "Long time no see, Dad."

"Same goes for you child," her father responded, turning his head to kiss her on her forehead. He patted the space beside him. "You really got yourself in trouble this time you know."

Sakura sighed. "Yeah I know." She looked up when a hand touched her cheek, softly stroking it. It warmed her when she looked back in the smiling face of her father.

"But don't think that I think less of you Sakura. I'm very proud of you."

"Really?"

"Of course. Although I disagree with the way you've lived your life for the past three years."

Sakura turned her head, knowing all to well what he was referring to but she decided to play dumb. "What do you mean?"

"Pushing away more friends, burying yourself in S-ranked missions, countless near death experiences, living like a shell of who you are when I know how lively you can be. I know I'm part of the reason you shut down even more. But it's time to let go."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know if I can."

"You have to stop questioning yourself Sakura. Everyone has something that throws their life into a turmoil, but it's up to the person to make it right again."

"I can't. I don't have the strength to live that way again, I just can't," Sakura yelled out. She jumped off the railing as she tried to stop the feelings from surfacing.

"Why? What's stopping you from loving the people dear to you?"

"Because in the end I'll be left behind as always. Being used and stepped on, having them not care what it will do to you. Love it just a stupid emotion, it will only hurt you in the end. I don't need it! I hate to love, I **hate **it!" She broke down. After four years building up her mask to shield the world from her emotions, it finally cracked and it tumbled off her face like a raging waterfall as her true emotions flowed free.

Her father stood up, pulling his daughter towards him for comfort. Throwing her arms around his neck she buried her face in his shoulder. She cried as she hadn't cried for years, sobs cracking down her spine as her father cradled her. "It hurts to love, it hurts to let people close but that doesn't mean it's always like that."

"But love can also bring great things, look what it gave me."

"It's weakness." Sakura murmured softly.

"On one side yes it's a weakness," her father agreed. "But it also can be a person's greatest strength. My love for you and your mother was my biggest strength out there. I wanted to protect you and keep you safe."

"But you couldn't protect yourself Dad. You left."

"I know, and I'm sorry. It was just my time to go. You however, you still have a future ahead of you if you're willing to fight."

"I don't know if I want to anymore."

"Why?"

"Every sight of them, it hurts me, tortures my very soul. I don't know if I can take it anymore."

"Then let them back in. You know the truth of what happened now. It's time for you to let go and move on. You can accept them back in your life; you don't have to be great friends just like before. Just give them another chance to let them show you how much they care. Besides, isn't there a guy cradling you right now, begging you to come back to him?"

"Maybe, I don't know if…"

"You won't know unless you try Sakura," her father interrupted her sternly. "One day you'll look back at your life and wonder why you didn't give them a second chance."

Sakura sighed, snuggling closer and inhaling her father's scent, a scent she always loved so much and gave her comfort. "Thank you Dad. I missed you; I missed our talks like this."

"I know, I missed you too." Sakura closed her eyes once again, losing herself in the comforting embrace.

A small kiss on her forehead made her smile again and she lifted her head up to look at him. "Dad?"

"Yes sweetheart?"

She swallowed nervously, biting her lower lip as she summoned the courage to ask the question that was burning on the edge of her tongue. "Am I dead?"

"Perhaps." Her father replied.

"What do you mean perhaps?"

"Maybe you're dead, maybe not."

"You're not making any sense Dad."

"I know."

"…"

"…"

"What?!"

"You're supposed to be my guide aren't you?"

"No, I came down here to help you."

"Why?"

"You're my daughter, that's why."

"Then where am I?"

"Somewhere, nowhere and yet everywhere."

"…You're not helping Dad."

"I'm trying!"

"Why am I here?"

"You know why, you answer it."

"Then why should I ask the question if I knew it?" Sakura snapped irritated.

"Think girl! It isn't really that hard to answer. You just have to look harder at yourself. Now tell me, Why are you here?"

"I don't know."

"Why are you here?"

"I don't…"

"**Why are you here?**"

"It's not my time yet!"

Hikaru smiled down at his daughter. It would be awhile before he would meet her again. But still, he would be there watching out for her, hoping she wouldn't continue to make the same mistakes she had made up until now. "Then what are you still doing here?"

"What?" Sakura spoke out confused, but when she looked up she was back in the black void, and her father vanished from her sight.

"Dad where are you?! Come back!" Twirling around she tried to search for her father again.

"It's just like you said Sakura, it isn't your time yet." His voice doomed up from the darkness.

"Dad wait!" Sprinting in a random direction she hoped she could get back to her father. But instead of finding her father, she found herself in Kakashi's arms. She heard his soft mumbling as if he was here with her.

A sudden wave of nausea came over her, pain filling her senses just like before. Looking down at herself she noticed she was back in the uniform she'd worn, cuts and bruises adoring her features. She opened her eyes with a gasp, not actually realising when she had closed them. Her eyes caught sight of Kakashi above her, his uncovered eye showing his relief.

"Ka…kashi..."

"It's alright Sakura; I'm not letting you go."

"Good," Sakura smiled and closed her eyes from exhaustion, deliberately snuggling closer to his warmth. Maybe her father was right; she should let them in again. And maybe just maybe, this man holding her could teach her how to love again.

**xXx**

The moment Sakura closed her eyes, Kakashi feared for the worst. Why was this always happening to him? Must he always suffer for the mistakes he had made in the past? He'd lost everyone he held dear, everyone he'd loved when he was still young. And now when he finally opened his heart to team 7, for Sakura, he'd just lost them too. No matter how hard he tried, they left him and ran as sand through the fists he made to hold onto them. Hugging her closer he rested his head upon hers, silently begging her to come back to him.

And then finally after what seemed an eternity in his eyes but was in reality only five minutes, she opened her eyes, staring at him with confusion. Hearing his name being uttered from her lips made his heart leap with joy.

"It's alright Sakura, I'm not letting you go." He said and her answer surprised him.

"Good." She closed her eyes, snuggling against him in a way she had not done in so long since she was young. What had happened to make her behaviour change so rapidly? He wasn't sure but he wasn't really going to question it, he finally had a piece of the old Sakura back, something he'd been fighting for since he discovered Sasuke had pushed this delicate blossom out of his life. Wrapping her better in their travelling cloaks, he laid her back down, close to the fire.

With a sigh he looked back at the entrance of the cave. The blizzard wasn't over yet, and probably would take a few hours before it settled down to a relative calm again. Rubbing his hands together he looked down at the now sleeping woman surrounded by his dogs so she wouldn't get too cold. Grabbing a water can from his pack he took a sip. He was tired, exhausted even. He had travelled to snow country non stop, only resting for one hour to regain some energy before taking off again. Feeling that sleep was trying to claim him, he shook his head fiercely. He wouldn't sleep until he knew for certain Sakura's condition wasn't life treating anymore.

Continuing to take care of her, he simply watched Sakura sleep. Taking in the way her chest moved up and down, rising steadily with every breath she took. Her hand grabbing the edge of one of their travelling cloaks as if it was the only thing keeping her grounded. Her face flushed from the fever she'd gotten that was finally coming under control. And what warmed his heart the most was the small smile playing on her lips. The one he had been searching for the whole time. He'd finally broken through the walls she'd erected, had rescued a part of the old Sakura he could reach from the black void of loneliness and despair, the same one he had been sinking into his whole life and had finally gotten out from. And one thing was for sure, he wouldn't stop until he had the same old Sakura back, the loving, caring girl that had conquered his heart.

_**To be continued…**_


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: I know what a treat! An update so quick after the other one ^^. Let's just say I'm full of inspiration and my hands are flying over the keyboard. Thanks for all those wonderful reviews, I'm glad you guys like it so much. 'Hugs everyone tight' I hope I replied back to everyone. This chapter is dedicated to my friend asianxmartie since I let her down a bit when she expected a bit KakaSaku. I also dedicate it to my dear friend V. She's always there for me when I need her so this one is for you two. I do have to say that this chapter isn't betaed yet since my beta isn't feeling well at all.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Chapter 24:**

It took a few more days before Sakura really recovered from the inhuman tortures she'd been through. She was being watched like a hawk by her teammate and she really couldn't blame him for his worries. She almost had at one point died in his arms and it seems as if he vowed to himself not lose her out of his sight. On one end it was quite flattering that he would do such a thing when he's known as a stoic Copy Nin that didn't let anyone close. And even though she would have rather died than to admit this fact, she liked being taken care of and it was just another plus that it happened to be him. Sure she was still a bit afraid of opening her heart again, but that didn't mean she didn't try. He always meant quite allot to her back in the old days and she was shocked to find out that his betrayal had hurt the most. And if she really needed to open her heart again, it would be the easiest to start with him. He wasn't really demanding and understood if she wanted to take things slow.

And there was another point. Right before she lost consciousness he told her he loved her, begging her not to leave him alone. At first she thought her hearing was playing a trick on her. But now that she watched his movements closer, his actions around her, the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't looking or was sleeping; it was like a longing look. A look you gave to a person you wanted to hold and never let go again for the rest of your life. It wasn't just lust she'd seen in his eyes. It was far more than that. It was longing, heart aching love only reserved for her. It made her doubt the conclusion she had drawn. Did he really love her? And if the answer was positive, that he indeed loved her like she thinks he does, what did it mean for their slowly building friendship? Did he want to become allot more right away? Why did he love her after all those years they'd been apart? She knew she wasn't the same person anymore as she'd used to be. And the question rising in her head made her confused how she should act around him. Was she even ready to take such a big step in one time? Could she really love that way again towards another person? She was slowly taking the small baby steps to open her heart again and she was sure that Kakashi would be at her side guiding the way to open up again. He had already proved to her that he wanted her back.

Her eyes suddenly widened. The jutsu her former team was placed under, the Tears of the Forgotten, there was written on the scroll that no one would remember her while the jutsu was still effective. But Kakashi remembered her even though the jutsu was still effective. That meant he already developed feelings since then. And the only way to remember her was creating a same or higher feeling or bond with the person the user wanted them to forget. She leaned back against the wall, needing the support that the wall of the cave could provide her.

No way… She fixed her gaze on the silver haired man sitting on the other side of the cave sharpening his weapons. He loved her all along and she was too blind to see it. She was an ANBU captain for gods' sake! Her mind triggered back to the moment she'd kissed him. She thought at first that he understood what she was trying to do and play along but now…Did he think that she had feelings for him? She panicked slightly but relaxed almost immediately. Well if he thought she had feelings for him then he already would have acted upon them right? Besides, it wasn't like she had feelings for him anyway. As friends yes, but more? '_Well his lips felt and tasted nice… What the hell am I thinking!_'

Sakura sighed; forbidding her thoughts to wonder that way. But who was she kidding? Sure she always had a weak spot for him but did that already mean that she loved him? She really didn't know anymore. She liked to think she was still the stone cold Sakura, not the loving anyone. But now that she looks back at her behaviour around him, why denying he was the one that was changing her? She spoke more and there was the big fact that he always managed to make her smile, or laugh or irritate the hell out of her. But still he poked up some old feelings she thought that vanished long ago. Maybe, just maybe she liked him more than just a friend. And a small voice in her head said it wasn't that bad to have to date him.

Because really have you seen that body of him?! After all those healing sessions she gave him back when they were still a team she'd almost seen every part of him except his face and well you know what I mean. He had just the right amount of muscle, was strong, had strange sense of humour but still can make her laugh, smart, attractive… Sakura blushed, not believing she's actually thinking of him that way. But after all the facts she'd been through she couldn't deny that she definitely felt something towards him. And another plus was that she felt comfortable around him, protected.

But still it all came down on her in the end. Was she ready to begin a relationship with a man she'd avoided for the last four years that brought her so much physical and mental pain? Yes she forgave them since it wasn't really their fault, but could she really bring herself to love him? Sure it would be weird to date him since he was fourteen years her senior. But age didn't really matter and she didn't give a rat's ass what the village thought about her and who she was dating. She didn't go into a relationship with the village but with the person she chooses to do so. So that really wasn't the problem. And with all the things she just said about him and the way he made her feel after not having felt those feelings for such a long time, it wasn't really hard to fall for him. And after all that said, she probably was already falling for him. His betrayal had hurt the most, and she couldn't deny the feelings she had pushed away four years ago and labelled unacceptable, the feelings that now was coming back now that the barrier around her heart was broken.

But could she really open her heart that way again after being crushed and thrown away? She bitted her lip nervously. Was she even enough for him? Why would he want her anyway? She was broken, empty shell that happened to have a past with him. Maybe if Kakashi really was into her, she should let him make the first move. Then at least she knew he really loved her and wasn't just a trick her mind was playing on her. But deep down she already knew the answer she was searching for. All the things that happened the past few weeks between them told her how he felt, now so clear to her as it can be. Maybe she should give him a chance, knowing that Kakashi never would intent to hurt her on purpose. Inhaling a deep breath she let it go slowly. Doubts filled her head, weighting the objects over the reasons why she should just do it. And in the end she smiled, knowing that she already had made the choice. She was opening her heart for him, why not give him everything? She had nothing more to loose and she trusted him enough that he wouldn't do stupid things with it. And if he did, well her fists and the genjutsu's she'd learned all those years would come quite in handy.

Feeling a tickle in her nose she sneezed, her nose still a bit red from the cold. Wrapping herself better into one of the thick cloaks Kakashi gave her she rolled her eyes when she felt his hand touching her forehead once again to check her temperature. How she hated to be pampered and checked after every little sneeze or cough.

"I'm fine Kakashi really. Don't worry so much," Sakura said trying to push the hand off of her.

"Better safe than sorry Sakura. Do you feel any nauseas coming up?"

"No worrywart, I'm completely fine."

"I'm just trying to look out after you Sakura," Kakashi replied, finally pulling his hand back and sitting down next to her.

"I know," Sakura sighed. "And I really appreciate everything you've done for me. But there are some thing called as 'pushing it'."

"I'm not pushing it!" Kakashi spoke indignant.

Sakura smiled softly. "Every time I sneeze, cough or shiver you jump up to check my temperature and make sure I'm okay." She stated the facts.

"Sorry of trying to care for you," Kakashi replied. He turned his head to the entrance of the cave, watching the snow flakes fall on the other side. He decided it was better to stay in the cave then look up for a village to stay in an inn. Sayuri might be still in Snow and probably searching everywhere for the pink haired woman who escaped her claws.

Seeing he was trying to pull back Sakura sighed again. Really this guy couldn't take some teasing. Lying her head down on his shoulder she closed her eyes as she leaned against him. "I know you care Kakashi, but really don't worry so much. You get wrinkles if you do that too much." She yawned softly snuggling closer to his warmth as she felt sleep taking her.

Turning his head slightly to look at Sakura, he smiled when he noticed the faint smile tugging on her lips. Carefully raising his arm so not to wake her he pulled her closer to settle her in his lap. Her head was tugged on his chin as she rested. And he didn't mind it one bit, it was quite a comforting feeling to have her trust him again. He always wondered if she heard what he said to her when she fell unconscious. When he told her he loved her. Probably not, seeing she hasn't confronted him with it yet so far. Or maybe she just waved it off that she didn't hear it right. He just prayed to the gods that she didn't notice the quickening of his heartbeat the moment her head rested on him.

He knew Sakura hated it to be pampered around. She preferred not to count on anyone and simply continue pushing herself till the very edge where she'll fall unconscious for a few days straight. She was in many ways the same like him, and that's why he understood her reasons and her logic. Even when he told her the truth she still held back because she was afraid to get close again. His first reaction would be to just wait till she came back to him, but knowing Sakura and her stubborn attitude she wouldn't come at all. Instead she would simply push herself further and not shining through her mask that hid her emotions to the world that she was hurting from the inside. It was quite ironic they both hid behind masks. She hid behind her cold and uncaring attitude while he wore a silk mask and Icha Icha in his hands to shield him from others. So instead of waiting he made his first move, telling her indirect that even though she'd lost faith in him, he was still there for her when she needed him to. He realised her first reaction would be simply push him away like all others, but she made one mistake. He wasn't like all others. He stubbornly continued to meet with her, talking to her even though she didn't reply or give sign that she was listening. He wasn't a person to give up, and he wouldn't give up until Sakura saw what she meant to him.

But back to the point, she hated to be pampered around just as much as he hated hospitals. But he did it to show her that he really cared and maybe just to get a little raise out of her. She was just too adorable when she was riled up. Pushing her buttons was a favourite passing times of him to do to keep her on her toes that he was still there. He yawned slightly and blinked a few times lazily. Maybe he could just close his eyes for just a few minutes. His pack was on patrol after all, guarding them from unwanted visitors or hostile ones. And while the sleep slowly fell over him like a warm fuzzy blanket, he wrapped his arms around Sakura's waist before dozing off in a comfortable sleep.

When he woke up from his slumber he felt the warmth one of their travelling cloaks provided. Opening his eye groggily he noticed that there was indeed a cloak lying over him. Sakura probably pulled on off of her and gave it to him. Speaking of the pink haired ANBU, where the hell was she? Sitting up and opening his eye fully he scanned the cave.

The fire was still burning, illuminating the dark area with its flickering light. The sound of crackling fire filled his hearing senses, but not the sound of her soft voice as he'd expected. Turning his head to the opening he noticed it the night already had fallen. Standing up the cloak slid off of him. Stretching his shoulders carefully he scanned the room further. Some of his weapons where gone it seemed. His heart missed a beat, panic filling his senses. Was she captured again? Turning around sharply he wanted to run into the night when he heard the crunching sounds of footsteps walking on the snow.

The sound of a soft sneeze made its way to him and let out a breath of relief when he recognized it. Not a moment later Sakura appeared in the opening, a dead rabbit in either hand, the other travelling cloak resting upon her form as the hood was up to cover up her pink hair. Pakkun was resting upon her shoulder, an amusing twinkle in his eyes while he glanced at his hunter partner. Sakura was letting out a small laugh as she silent shook her head at what his furry companion had said.

She slightly tilted her head up to regard him, a smile playing on her lips as she saw he was awake. Pakkun jumped off her shoulders, shook his fur before he paddled over close to the fire before he sat down.

"What were you thinking?" Kakashi gritted out trough his teeth as he stared at her upset. Didn't she know the risks she was taking to go out hunting?

"Getting our dinner," Sakura replied calmly as she dropped the rabbits on the ground. "Don't worry I covered our tracks."

She knelt down as she pushed the hood down, revealing her pink locks. She unbuttoned the black cloak and let is slide off her shoulders on the ground behind her. Pulling up her sleeves, she grabbed the kunai Kakashi had been sharpening earlier that day and started to clean the rabbits. She kept silent as she felt his gaze on her. She knew Kakashi was worried about her, but she wasn't a weak little genin anymore he had to take care off! She was an elite ANBU member damnit! He used have to get used to the idea she could take care of herself, sick or not.

"You know what could have happened? What if-,"

"I know well enough what could have happened," Sakura interrupted him. Tilting up her head to watch him with her narrowed gaze she snapped at him. "I'm a bloody ANBU captain stop fussing so much over me. You don't even know what I'm capable off and I had Pakkun and Bull with me. Oh and if you're wondering where he is, he's on patrol outside."

"You went through hell with that torture, you nearly died! What are you thinking in that head of yours to go outside?" Kakashi yelled outraged.

"I'm not a child! I'm not crippled or weak Kakashi. Rather you like it or not, I've grown up. I'm not that weak little girl you had to take care off anymore."

"I know that Sakura," Kakashi sighed. _'But what if it had gone wrong? What if I lost you?' _He turned his head away. He didn't doubt her strength, he had seen what she'd been capable off and he was sure she had a lot more tricks up her sleeve. But couldn't she see how much it terrified him that something could have happened to her and he wasn't there to protect her?

Silence fell between them Sakura staring at Kakashi with a frown now placed on her face. That look he just given her. It showed hurt. Why? Had she done anything to hurt him? Was he really that shocked when he woke up and noticed she was gone? Turning her head to Pakkun she begged him silently for help.

Pakkun had taken in the fight between the humans silently. He felt Sakura's gaze and turned his head to look at her. Seeing her questionable gaze he signalled with his head that she had to apologize to him, even if she was right at one part.

Rolling her eyes she turned her head briefly to watch the eliminated wall. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken off without your content."

She turned her head to look at him, their eyes locking. "But stop treating me like a child. If you want to be my friend again you have to treat me like an equal."

'_But I don't want to be just friends, why can't you see that?'_ Kakashi nodded. "Apology accepted. And I'm sorry too, it's just you freaked me out."

A small smile tugged on Sakura's lips and she continued working on their dinner. So he was worried over her. After finishing dinner and giving the other rabbit to his pack Sakura was picking her nails while Kakashi was reading his book. Recalling their conversation back in the cave before their infiltration in Scryers she spoke up once again.

"Ne, Kakashi?"

"Hmm?"

"You never answered my question back in the cave before our infiltration."

Kakashi gulped, she wanted to do this now? Sighing he closed his book with a snap, lowering it to his lap while he thought the best way to say it. "Which question?"

"Why did you remember me when the jutsu was still effective? According to the scroll you gave be about the jutsu, states that you still should have forgotten me."

"Well…I-uhu…" He swallowed in his words. He couldn't say it. He couldn't even think of the right words to say it to her. His heart yarned for hers, to make her his. But how could he tell her that when every word he would utter wouldn't compare to the feelings he had? He tensed when he felt the cloth of his pants move. Jerking his head back, his eye widened when Sakura was now sitting in his lap. How could she move so fast without him noticing? That was the second time already she'd done that to him. He grip tightened on his book while he head was now resting against the wall as far he could create distance. But the little minx she was she simply slid closer, her movement creating a wonderful friction against his lower parts. He bit his lip not to groan and restrain the feeling to just jump her and take her right there and then.

"Tell me Kakashi," She demanded softly. Her voice was merely above a whisper. He could feel her hot breath on his skin, sinking through the clothed barrier of his mask.

"I…I can't." He replied back with honesty and with the same volume as she had spoken to him.

"Why not?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow. "But then again, you don't have to answer the question. Do you know why?"

Kakashi shook his head slightly, his eye fixed on her soft delicate lips as they moved when she talked.

"Because I already know the answer to that question. You loved me ever since our meeting in the Broken Bottle. The scroll states that the user must have a higher bond with the person they want the victim to forget. And you started to remember me again. Why can't you just say it how you feel about me?"

Kakashi closed his eye briefly, tilting his head down as he did so. "Because I can't think of the right words to describe my feelings for you. What I feel for you, I haven't felt anything like that ever before in my life. It scares me shitless and at the other side it gives me strength beyond my imagination. When I thought you died, my world came crashing down. And when you lay there in my arms, I thought I lost you again and it nearly killed me." He took a deep breath and shuddered at the slightly movement Sakura made. "What I'm trying to say is that I…I…"

Sakura looked at him. He just poured his whole heart out to her and couldn't help but to fall even further for the guy now that she heard his confession of his love for her. Her eyes softened and a heart warming smile found its way on her face. She knew what he was trying to say and hushed him with a finger touching his covered lips. She felt his body beneath her tense at her touch and inwardly smirked when she realized just how much power she really held over the copy nin. "I know what you're trying to say."

His eye looked relieved but yet there was still a hint of fear in it. She wondered why. "What about you? I know I shouldn't push you and-."

Again Sakura cut him off. Instead of answering his question she slowly started to pull down his mask. He didn't do a thing to stop her and simply watched as his face was revealed to her. He had pale high cheek bones, almost delicate soft lips followed by a strong square jaw line and not a scar to be seen except the one trailing over his left eye and down onto his left cheek. She slowly pulled of his eye patch to get the full vision and simply took him in. Kakashi closed his only opened eye in fear of rejection but was surprised when a soft touch started to trace his scare, his nose and finally his lips. Holding in his breathe, he waited anxiety for her next move. His heart beating so rapidly in his chest it thought it would surely burst out of his chest. But when nothing came he opened his eyes to watch what she was doing. His breathe caught in his throat when his eyes locked with hers. Her usual darkened emerald eyes were shining with the lively glint she always had when she was younger back in the old days. She was accepting him, letting him in her heart.

Before he knew what he was doing he leaned forward, his right unoccupied hand came up and cupped her cheek as he kissed her fully on her lips. His heart exploded and felt tingly all over. It was far much better than the kiss he shared with her that was merely a diversion. His left hand let loose of the book as it came up to her waist to pull her even if it was even possible closer. His hand that cupped her cheek went to her silken like pink hair. It felt so soft, so nice. It was even better than in his wildest dreams. He dully noticed that one of her hands was in his silver locks as the other one had a steel grip on his vest. Licking her bottom lip, he begged her for entrance to the hot warm cavern he yarned for so much. Accepting his silent request she parted her lips and his tongue dipped into her mouth. Their tongues battled as their kiss turned more heated. His grip on her waist tightened as the other hand moved to the nap of her neck to push her face closer. Her hand in his hair tucked playfully at his locks as the other slide around his neck. She unconsciously grinded against him, which had earned her a muffled groan from Kakashi as a reward.

Their kiss was filled with passion, want and love. They only broke apart when they lungs screamed and burned for the need of oxygen. They panted slightly as their foreheads touched, a smile playing both on their lips. Sakura kissed him softly on his lips before starting to answer his question. "I don't know if I can love the way like I did before. But I'm willing to try if you let me."

She shrieked when she suddenly lay on Kakashi's sleeping back, the owner hovering above her while the lower part of her body was pinned under him. Hot soft kissed trailed down from her cheek to her neck. She moaned slightly as she felt his hot breath fluming over her skin.

"I'll teach you how to love Sakura."

"Should I call you sensei again then?" Sakura replied sarcastically. Kakashi stopped his assault and tilting his head back up to look at her.

"I prefer not, and if you do, I have to punish you."

"Aw, you know how much I love to learn new things…**sensei**." Her laugh was muffled when another heated kiss was planted upon her lips. She laughed outright when he pulled back and started to tickle her and for the first time in four years, she felt as her old self again. She was happy.

_**To be continued…**_


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: thanks for all the lovely reviews you gave me, it really cheered me up. I'm sadly to say that this story is coming to an end, only a few chapters left. There's a pull up on my profile where you guys can use which story you want me to write next. The next update will take a bit longer seeing I had an accident and heavily bruised my arm. So the ticking will be a bit slower than before. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 25:**

Two days later when Kakashi was satisfied enough and certain her condition was good enough to continue they went back to the base where Sakura had been held. Now that they'd been found out they needed to be extra careful. Kakashi objected to going back there, but since it was the only clue they had that could bring them closer where Akira was being held he finally agreed.

The infiltration of the base was actually quite easy, they went the same way in as Kakashi did when he'd come to rescue Sakura. Sneaking through the corridors and after some hours of searching they'd finally found the main room. With Pakkun standing on guard Kakashi and Sakura searched for any clue that could lead them to the base where Akira was being held.

They rifled through the desk, being careful enough to place the things back in order and as it was before they'd touched it. Sighing frustrated after another closet had been gone through and still with no clue's Sakura turned to the main desk once again.

"I already searched that one you know."

"I know that Kakashi, still I have a feeling we're overlooking something," Sakura replied, her hands rumpling through a stack of papers. "A map, a letter it could be-," She stopped talking when she held up a piece of paper. Her eyes narrowed to slits as her eyes flew over the written lines.

"What, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked slightly alarmed when she cut off her sentence. He turned around to look at her and made his way over when he saw that she'd found something. He leant a bit forward, his vest almost touching her back while he read along from over her shoulder.

…_The girl has__ escaped, can't find her anywhere. She's probably already left Snow if she's smart enough. It's been confirmed she's from Konoha and the one who brought down Elysium. I suggest sending Hyko after her. She'll be a lot of trouble for us if she's still alive. If she's gone, there won't be many obstacles left to stop us from completing our mission. Also the guy she'd brought along with her has also vanished so he probably was a spy the same as her. Hiro is being difficult again, refusing to sign the paper you sent me. If you could send something from the annoying brat to show him I'm sure he'll be quiet for the rest of the time until he isn't of anymore use. Maybe a finger would do, she won't need it anyway. Naoko also came to stay for the rest of our plan. She'll be staying for three weeks before she returns to her base. After she's done with Wind, they'll come to bring down the last one, fire…_

Sakura snarled. If they even thought to harm one hair on her younger sister's body, they'd wish they've never been born. She snapped her head up when she felt two chakra signatures coming there way.

"Pakkun why didn't you say anything?"

The said dog turned around confused, only then sensing the people coming their way. "You felt it before me! There are two females making their way to us."

Sakura nodded already putting things back in place. She only half heard Kakashi dismissing Pakkun before he started to search for another exit. The sound of chairs scraping over the floor, the ruffling of papers that were being put back into their places filled to room and when Sakura was done she turned around to look at her partner.

Seeing her questioning gaze Kakashi shook his head. There wasn't a way out without them noticing their presence. There wasn't a window in this chamber so that already ruled that one out. And seeing that the enemy was walking through the only corridor leading to the door it was also out of the question to go out through the only exit of the room because it would lead them straight into their arms.

Sakura rolled her eyes with annoyance and quickly scanned to room. Opening the closet she'd been searching in she scowled frustrated as it was overly filled and not a good hiding place what so ever. Closing the doors quickly she noticed a doll house standing on one of the lower tables. Knowing they didn't have much time left she grabbed Kakashi by his wrist, pulled him with her before making the necessarily seals. As they shrank Sakura quickly grabbed hold of the edge of the table and when they were finally around the size of a doll, they were hanging on the edge.

Forcing a bit of chakra in her hand she started to sweep her arm to throw Kakashi on to the wooden soiled surface before pulling herself up. Running over to the doll house she pushed the door open, with Kakashi quickly following her. The moment she closed the door, the entrance to the room opened and Sayuri and another woman walked in.

Letting out a silent sigh of relief and suppressing her chakra signal she sneaked over to one of the windows, straining her eyes and ears while she watched the two women make their way to the desk.

Sayuri walked around and plopped down on the chair behind it, while the other one pushed a pile of papers away before sitting down on the edge of the desk. While Sayuri wore a dark blue tabard with a red phoenix, the other one was wearing a broken white coloured one with a red phoenix on it. She had knee length combat boots like Sakura had worn when she was sixteen and dark clad pants. Her right wrist was covered with a leather strap, probably hiding the tribal tattoo she had there like all other leaders of the Syndicate. She had short dark purple hair, a few bangs shielding her face when she leaned forward to look at the writings on the paper near her hand. A piercing in her left ear caught her attention and when Sakura let her gaze wonder a bit further down she noticed a bleeding rose tattoo on her left upper arm, near her shoulder.

Her blue eyes fixed upon the paper before she sighed heavily turned her head back up and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Got any smokes Sayuri?"

Sayuri threw a disapproving glare at her companion and snorted. "Of course not Naoko! You know my distaste for cigarettes or anything of the sort. Smoking gives you bad breath and yellow teeth."

Naoko simply shrugged, her hand reaching into her pocket and pulling out a cigarette that she lit with a small fire jutsu. Taking a drag she let it go after a few moments and smirked at the death glare she got from the other woman. "What?"

"Nothing," Sayuri grit back. Her chocolate colored eyes glaring at her for a little while longer before she turned her gaze to the paper she was reading once more.

"Why was there a meeting again?" Naoko asked while she stared at the ceiling.

Sayuri sighed heavily. "Oh I'll never understand what Kaeden was thinking when he made you leader of Infinity."

Naoko just shrugged her shoulder, turning her head slightly to look at the blonde haired woman over her shoulder. "I never let a prisoner escape or a spy for that matter." Naoko replied nonchalantly, knowing that it would anger the woman.

"It wasn't my fault!" Sayuri yelled back, slamming her fist on the table as she stood up. The chair she had been sitting on fell at her movement.

"Yeah? Then who let her go? Who hadn't killed her off when they had the chance? But no, you just had to torture her like always. Really, you should do something about the fetish of yours. It's your own fault that Kaeden is livid at you and wants your hide. I find it quite a miracle that he didn't come over and take care of you already actually." Naoko's tone was flat, not holding any emotion as she talked. Taking another drag of her cigarette she threw it on the floor before standing on it. Blowing out the smoke she finally turned around to face Sayuri.

"Speaking about that bitch, have you found her yet?"

Sayuri growled. "No. But when she comes home, there'll be a surprise waiting for her." Her eyes glinting wickedly as she spoke. An evil smirk adding to the already mad look upon her face that would send chills down anyone's back.

Sakura tensed her eyes narrowed as her grip on the plastic wall tightened. What did she mean by that? Was her mother in danger? She jumped slightly when she felt a hand resting upon her shoulder, squeezing it softly to comfort her a bit. Her grip loosened and inhaled a deep breath. She'd let her emotions control her again and if Kakashi weren't there she was sure she would have raced out of their hiding place and given the woman a proper beating. Not that that wasn't going to happen, far from it actually. She only needed to know the coordinates where Akira was being held or rather the base where she was held before she would slowly kill them, making them suffer for what they'd done to her and Akira's family.

"Ah sharpened your claws again have you?" Naoke asked, her tone not in the least bit impressed.

"Wish I could. No, Kaeden wants her to truly suffer and when we're done with her she'll be begging us to end her miserable life." Sayuri started laughing, clearly enjoying the thoughts racing through her head. Naoke however rolled her eyes annoyed, grabbing another cigarette and lit it. Taking a drag she sighed blissfully.

They talked awhile further about business and Sakura slumped against the wall, ignoring the confused gaze she earned from Kakashi with her action. Biting on her nail she thought how she could beat them without to much risk involved. There were probably far more enemy shinobi in the building, and it was only her and Kakashi here. They were pretty skilled fighters, they were members of the elite after all. But these guys shouldn't be underestimated. She didn't know anything of Sayuri's fighting style at all, not the mention the newly arrived leader of Infinity. Maybe a genjutsu would work, but now in their smaller forms, it could easily fail or probably not even affect them. So that was out of the question. She turned her head slightly upwards when she heard the name of her half sister again.

"So that little brat, is she taken care of yet?" The voice of Naoke reached her ears. Sakura stood up again, glancing out of the window. But since she missed the movement of Sayuri's head replying to Naoko's answer without words, she didn't know the answer.

"Well then at least her father won't be a problem anymore." Naoko snorted. "That's the exact reason why I don't like little brats or have my own."

"Yeah right, it's just because you can't get into lord's Kaeden pants yet!" Sayuri replied back.

She turned her head to look at the clock, seeing it was almost half past two. Grabbing some papers she stood up. "It's time we headed towards the base, the congress will start in two hours and it takes one and a half hour to get there.

Naoko nodded and began to make the seals to teleport away. Sakura's eyes widened when she realized if she didn't act soon, their chance to reach the main base would be slim to none. Jumping out of the window she did the best thing she could do, slamming an enchanted fist of chakra into the ground. Naoko stopped shocked turning around only to be slammed into the wall by a normal height pink haired shinobi.

"You!" Sayuri growled when she saw Sakura standing on the other side of the desk. Jumping over the low wooden barrier that kept them apart, Sayuri swung at Sakura who easily dodged her attack.

Sakura turned around rapidly, and felt something kick her ankle. Looking down quickly she smirked at the doll sized Kakashi stood there. Releasing the jutsu she placed upon him, there was now a normal Kakashi standing at her side. Standing back to back, kunai in their hand they watched their opponents.

Naoko rubbed her sore head, and stood up from the pile of books she'd fallen through. "Damn you've got quite a punch girl, impressive."

Cracking her neck she smiled a small smile. "It's been awhile since I've had a good workout. Maybe you can provide me with a real battle." And with that said she was gone in a matter of seconds.

Not a moment later she appeared at Sakura's side, striking down with her kunai. Sakura saw a flash of purple as her only warning and could block most of her attack but couldn't prevent the kunai cutting a small wound upon her shoulder. Wincing at the contact, Sakura drew back, her eyes watching as the woman disappeared before her eyes again. Expecting her attack, Sakura ducked when she saw a flash of purple once again, this time prepared and adjusting to her speed. Kicking a leg up she hit the purple haired woman in the stomach, sending her flying backwards with the force Sakura had put into her swing.

She heard Kakashi fighting Sayuri in the background, and as much as she wanted to help him he was on his own for now. But what she didn't expect was that the lights would be turned off suddenly. Sakura grunted as she felt a fist colliding with her jaw and a sharp sting in her lower abdomen quick after. She heard Kakashi yell her name and two strong arms caught her before she even reached the ground. Knowing that it was Kakashi relieved her a bit. Glancing up she saw the dark outlining on his silhouette, his patch yanked away and uncovering his sharingan eye.

A small laugh was heard and when the light when on again, Sakura blinked a few times and felt the cold steel of the kunai pressing against her throat. Looking up she stared at the chocolate eyes of Sayuri.

She didn't turn her head afraid that Sayuri would slit her throat at her movement. She still felt Kakashi behind her, but he was stiffer than usual. He probably also had a kunai aimed at his throat, ready to strike anytime should he make a wrong move.

Sayuri smiled mockingly while she stared into the green depths. "That was very foolish of you girl."

Sakura smirked back, tilting her head a bit upwards as she grinned at the woman. "You really think you have me huh?"

Sayuri's eyes narrowed and her smile faltered as her thoughts raced over the answer Sakura gave trying hard to get the meaning of it. "What do you mean, there's a kunai pressed against your throat."

Sakura laughed, leaning forward against the cold steel. "Oh I can feel that but do you really think it would stop me from this."

She looked up locking her eyes with Sayuri's right at that moment. Smirking she watched as her figure became limp before her, staring in her eyes all the while. The kunai slipped out of her hand and clattered onto the ground. She might not have a sharingan, but she could lock people into a genjutsu with her eyes just as well as any Uchiha could. Kurenai had taught her that. It took her a full four months to get it under her control, concentrating just the right amount of chakra into her eyes but she'd finally managed it. One mistake and she could have been blinded for life, but with her prefect chakra control it was mostly safe for her to attempt to learn it and it made it a whole lot easier too.

The moment Sakura saw her go limp, her hand flew upwards with lighting speed, grabbing the kunai with her bare hand from Kakashi's throat and yanking it away. Her breath hitched as it cut into her flesh. She ducked her head at the weak attempt to catch her off balance. Pushing her unharmed hand into the ground and kicking her legs up, felt the sick snap as the heel of her boot connected with Naoko's jaw as she flipped over, now standing on her feet.

Naoko grunted and grabbed her jaw, falling onto her knees. Her blue eyes glaring at her before the look vanished and they twinkled with amusement. "Not bad at all," She said hoarsely, a wicked grin upon her lips.

"Tell me where the main base is or I kill off your friend this instant," Sakura growled. But to her surprise Naoko started to laugh, sounding more like a rough cough at this point but a cold laugh none the same.

"You really think that bitch is important to me? Huh, as if! Go ahead, kill her. At least one thing that will have made my day more enjoyable."

Sakura raised her eyebrow confused at the woman and still kept on her guard. Knowing that Sayuri was still needed for interrogation of the much needed information she did the next best thing. Concentrating on the genjutsu she knocked the woman unconscious, causing the blonde to fall limply to the floor with a sick thud.

"You sissy, you didn't even kill her. Pity… thought I could have gone celebrating today."

"And what makes you think you would survive the day?" Kakashi asked, his tone dark the always used when he fought with the enemy.

Naoko laughed, smiling a bloodied smile at the two before her. "This…"

Before either could respond, a smoke bomb was dropped.

"Shit!" Coughing at the smoke, Sakura was relieved to find that it wasn't anything poisonous, just simple smoke that would thicken so much that you couldn't see a thing. It came in handy if you wanted to escape a tight situation just like the one they were in a few minutes ago.

She heard the door open, and Sakura struggled to get to the opening. A scream reached her ears, so familiar to her. And was quickly followed by a curse and then a hard thud. Having had enough of the stupid smoke hindering her eyesight she was about to summon a small whirlwind to make it disappear. But someone was already one step ahead of her.

"Ninja art, wind style, wind wave jutsu!" A male voice called out. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and only opened them when the sudden wave of wind was gone. Opening her eyes she blinked surprised at the group before them.

"Seriously captain, you're getting rusty!"

_**To be continued...**_


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: I want to thank everyone who reviewed and my beta. Two more chappies to go and this story is officially finished! ^^. For the score of the poll on my profile is at the moment The power of youth on the lead. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 26:**

Normally if somebody would say that to her, they either died the next seconds in a painful death or locked up in one of her torture genjutsu's for the next couple of hours. But this time she never had been happier to hear it, especially coming from him. She smirked when she saw her own ANBU team walking into the room, quickly followed by Tenzou, Naruto and Sai.

She already knew that the high pitched scream sounded familiar and she wanted to hit her head for stupidity for not knowing immediately that it was Nami. She heard the red haired girl screaming countless of times, from a small spider to a terror scream when someone of her team mates got hurt. Seeing the teasing and mocking glint in Daisuke's eyes never made her smile more. Sure he got a lot on her nerves from time to time but still you could count on him if you needed someone to back you up.

"I just wanted to see if you guys were alert or not," Sakura replied mockingly. Daisuke just grinned back, crossing his arms in front of him and radiating the language of: 'Ye right but I keep my mouth shut to safe your pride'.

"Are you alright captain?" Nami asked softly staring at the large gash on her stomach.

Sakura blinked thinking she just meant the little scratch on her arm when she noticed her gaze went to her lower regions. Following her gaze she stared at the wound decorating her lower abdomen. Then she looked up with a grin and shrugged her shoulders. "Ah, I had worse. It's nothing really."

Placing her hand over the gash she started to heal her wound. When she was done she looked up with a smile. But what Nami did the next thing surprised the whole group surrounding her. She slapped her captain straight in the face. Sakura gasped surprised, staring with big emerald eyes to the angry looking violet ones. Her fists were clenched into fists as her lips were drawn into a scowl and hot angry tears rolled down her cheeks. "You promised Captain. You promised to be there when we returned."

Sakura blinked confused, not grasping what she was angry about. "You said you would wait for us, and you weren't there!" As if a light bolt had gone on above her head, Sakura finally understood where her teammate was so upset about. Her gaze softened as her smirk vanished.

"I'm sorry, but you would have done the same if you're family was in danger."

Nami blinked. Family? They were only saving a girl that gave her captain back to her. Seeing her confused gaze, Sakura quickly explained about the situation. While Sakura was explaining, Naruto had grabbed Naoko and dragged her over to Sayuri.

"I'm so sorry captain, I didn't know," Nami gasped horrified, regretting her action from earlier. Sakura only smiled in reply, lying down her hand on her shoulder as a sign of forgiving before she moved over to their prisoners.

"What are we going to do now Captain?" Renge asked stepping away from Tenzou en stopping at his captain's side.

"Extracting information of course," Sakura said as if it was the simplest thing on earth.

"But how…?"

"If you shut up for a moment you'll find out yourself," Sakura sighed as she interrupted Renge in his sentence. Kneeling down she carefully placed her hands on either side of Sayuri's head.

"Here goes for nothing," Sakura murmured as she closed her eyes. Channelling chakra into her hands she entered Sayuri's mind, her eyebrows knitting together in concentration. Memories flashed by, from her crimes to meetings with her as Tyana and so on. Finally finding the information she needed, she stopped and simply watched the memory as it played off before her eyes. When Sakura finally had enough she opened her eyes, stopped channelling chakra into her hands and leaned back. Taking a deep breath the stood up while thinking off the best way to act.

"Captain?" Nami asked carefully, afraid that something had happened to her when she hadn't spoken for awhile.

"Before we can act further I need to know if you went to the estate of Akira's family." Sakura spoke softly, turning around to face the group that waited patiently for her guidance.

"Yes, we took out every guard and Ino healed any visible wounds on Hiro-san. She'd brought him back to Konoha while we tracked you guys down." Daisuke spoke.

"Good, since these two were on their way to the base Daisuke and I are going as them. When we enter the building we split up in two groups. One going out to search Kaemon and kill him, while the other search for Akira. Since Daisuke and I are probably alone with the guy we kill him while the rest searches for Akira. When we find her, we have 10 minutes to get out asses out before the blowing up the building. We communicate through the headsets, you have them with you right Tenzou?"

Tenzou nodded and took out two more headsets, giving one to Kakashi and the other to Sakura.

" When at some reason we can't act out our given assignment we simply switch. Just keep on your guard at all times and never wonder off alone, especially on the ground we know nothing of. Are there any questions?" Sakura asked when the headset was on its place. The group shook their heads in negative. Tying up the prisoners and leaving Kakashi's pack behind to guard them, they made themselves ready.

Sakura seeing the glances Naruto gave her, she sighed before making her way to the blonde knucklehead ninja. She knew why he was so nervous and she wanted to set some things straight before they moved out. If Naruto looses focus it might bring the mission in danger.

"Long time no see Naruto."

Naruto's big blue eyes shinned with hope and shame when Sakura spoke to him. Hope that she had forgiven him and shame that he had pushed her away from his life. "Hey Sakura." He murmured back, his eyes casting downwards as he spoke to her. Even after all those years, he was still the same. Sakura smiled and lay down her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright Naruto, I'm not mad at you anymore."

Seeing that as his signal, Naruto swung his arms around the pink haired ANBU captain and crushed her against him. "I'm so sorry Sakura-chan, I'm so sorry. I didn't know how it happened, or why. Please, please forgive me. I don't want…"

"Calm down! It's alright, I forgive you." Sakura chuckled quietly at his little rambling.

Pulling a bit back, his bright blue eyes stared hopefully into the green depths. "Really?" He asked softly. Sakura nodded only to regret it partly the next moment.

"N-naruto.. I-I need air! ...Please!" Sakura choked out with effort. Being released from the death hug Sakura took relieved a deep breath. She stared up at her former team mate who sheepishly was scratching the back of his head. "Sorry Sakura-chan."

Sakura simply shook her head, but couldn't help the small smile making its way on her face. When everyone was ready and knew what they had to do, Sakura and Daisuke changed into Naoko and Sayuri. Grabbing the snow cart that Naoko had used to get to the base, the rest of the group got in while Sakura and Daisuke stayed on front.

"Do you know the way?" Daisuke asked nervously.

"Of course I do," Sakura sighed back, grabbing the reins and steering the card into the direction of the main base.

The trip to it went pretty well, none interruptions of any kind. But when they neared the castle build within the mountain, Sakura noticed that they were being surrounded by shinobi. Not stopping for them however she swung another time with the reins in her hand, speeding up. She only started to pull at the reins when the group that was tracking them for awhile was now in sight, running along the wagon and signalling her to stop. When they finally came to a halt Sakura transferred the reins to Daisuke sitting next to her. Squeezing his shoulder when she saw him tensing up as reassurance without the others knowing before she turned to the leader of the group.

"What is the meaning of this?" Sakura hissed. "We're already running late as it is!"

"My apologies lady Kasaya, but it's a common affair to check any wagon nearing the head quarters."

Not even tensing of fear that they might have been discovered Sakura easily played her role. "Do you really think we're the right and left hands of lord Kaemon have spies in our wagon?! How dare you question my skills?!" Sakura yelled livid. She jumped off the wagon and stared coldly at the leader of the group.

The man stepped a bit backwards, an emotion akin to fear starting to show in his eyes. "N-no not at all milady but its-,"

"Enough!" Sakura yelled, holding up her hand and cutting the man off brutally. "Naoko and I are needed for a congress." Climbing upon the wagon, Sakura sat down again and took over the reins from Daisuke once again. Then when she was seated she turned to the man she had spoken to again, her eyes narrowed and a snarl adding to her angry features. "If you ever dare to do this to me again, I'll personally make your life a living hell before I kill you."

"Y-yes ma'am, my apologies. I was out off line, it won't happen again."

"It better," Sakura grumbled giving the man one more death glare before she swung at the reins, proceeding her way towards the castle looming at the horizon. It would only take another half hour before they would reach it Sakura guessed. Daisuke turned his head slightly to look back the group they just encountered. He snickered when he saw the man his captain had spoken to on his knees as if he was praying silently that he was still alive. The others looked shocked and completely terrified. Turning his head to look back at the now blond haired companion he couldn't help the smirk forming on his lips.

"That was awesome captain. You totally scared the shit out of them!"

"Ah when you have lived so long as me you pick up some things," Sakura smirked back, unlocking a small laughing fit from the man sitting next to her.

"You're not that old captain; we're only two years apart!" Daisuke smiled while he wiped the invisible tear from laughter away. "But really when we get back, could you teach me that?"

"Teach you what?" Sakura questioned not once taking her eyes of the land before her to look at the short dark purple haired female beside her.

"How to scare people away with only talking with them and such an imitating look? I thought for sure that if we would have stayed any longer the man would have pied in his pants."

"Hmm, I'll think about it."

"Ah come on captain!"

"So eager to learn from me, don't you my worthy loyal underdog?" Sakura teased him.

"Captain…" Daisuke sighed.

"Just teasing you, don't get you g-string in a twist."

"Captain!" Daisuke yelled out. His face glowing bright red at her comment.

Sakura only laughed, ducking her head at the hand now bristling over her that was aimed for her head. She could hear the choked laughs of her follow members of her current team. Sakura always picked out Daisuke to tease, she didn't know why but probably because he could handle it and knows she doesn't really mean it. Besides he was always in for a joke, how many times had he tried to pull a prank on her? So it was only right to tease him back when the time occurred.

When they finally reached the castle Sakura made a mental note from the drawbridge they crossed. Taking a quick glance down she noticed they moved over a very deep cliff. Well that might cause some trouble if something went wrong and they were trying to escape. Moving under the iron gates she watched the guards greeting them with a stiff bow. Her brown eyes looked over the courtyard and halted by the massive oak twin doors. It squeaked when it opened and saw that two guards were pushing it open. From the middle appeared a middle aged man. His half long dark brown hair danced on the small breeze of the wind. He had pale skin and his dark eyes twinkled with delight. He wore a dark blue dress shirt, the three upper buttons were unbuttoned and showing a bit of his pale chest. He wore a light brown clad pants and leather riding boots reaching his knees.

He waited at the entrance only walking down the step of stairs when Sakura stopped the wagon before the entrance. He extended his hand to Daisuke who grabbed his hand and helped him off the car. He didn't turn to help Sakura but simply kissed Naoko's hand before he turned around.

Not offended in any way Sakura simply jumped of the wagon and followed the two to the main entrance. She turned back to look at the two guards already taken her and Daisuke's place and riding the wagon to the stables. Praying a silent pray she walked into the main hall, their footsteps resounding through the hall as they walked to the door at the other side.

"Have you found her yet?" he suddenly spoke up.

Assuming he was talking to her Sakura replied. "No milord, it seems as if she's vanished of the face of the earth."

Her answer triggered something in the man before her since he stopped. Turned around and hit her square in the face. Sakura closed her eyes briefly with the impact. They seriously had something with slapping her in the face today.

"A kunoichi of her calibre doesn't disappear like that in an instance!" he growled at her. "She will be a hindrance with our further plans and she needs to be dealt with."

"Forgive me milord," Sakura mumbled.

"Be glad your still alive woman. I would already have killed you if I didn't need you so much."

Sakura bowed her head and caught a glimpse of the ring on his right index finger. It was a golden ring of a phoenix. So that was the thing that collided hard with her cheek. Seeing him turn away once again Sakura straightened and followed them further. They stopped in a long room, probably one of their meeting rooms. There was a long table standing in the middle surrounded with chairs. In the middle was a big fireplace with above a mirror. The head side of the table was littered with neat stacks of paper. He sat down at the head and silently watched as Sakura took place at the left as Daisuke took the right. He didn't see however that Sakura already pulled out the kunai from her belt; her hand curling over the hilt as it rested upon her lap.

"Now since Grass is almost under our control I think it's time to start on our final country. The land of Fire."

"Not when I'm still around." Sakura replied and at the same moment swung her kunai at him.

_**To be continued…**_


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Personally I don't like this chapter very much. But hope you like it. Thanks everyone who pm'ed me and gave me reviews, I'm really grateful for your time to review. The poll on my writer profile is now officially closed, the winner is It started with a jutsu, followed by The power of Youth and Sakura's secret part 2. The last chapter of this story will be hopefully finished end this week and then I'll start with It started with a jutsu. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 27:**

As Sakura swung her kunai at the man's throat Daisuke jumped up also, knocking over his chair in the progress. Keamon dodged the attack quite easily, a smirk playing on his lips all the while.

He still sat comfortably in his chair, staring unfazed at his attacker. "I wondered when you were going to attack…Pink Illusion."

Sakura huffed as her eyes narrowed at hearing her infamous nickname. She dropped the illusion and pushed the chair out of her way. "I wouldn't expect anything less of the leader of this organisation; you should have been ashamed if you didn't see through it."

"Hmmm," his smirk didn't falter and his eyes twinkled in amusement. "I suggest a trade. You join me and Akira is released."

"Like hell captain is joining your stupid organisation!" Daisuke yelled. Grabbing one of his daggers he'd hidden he swung at the man.

"Daisuke don't!" Sakura tried to warn him. But it was already too late. Kaemon dodged this attack as easily as he had done with Sakura's and tried to stab him with a dagger of his own. But instead of hitting Daisuke like he planned to do, he'd hit Sakura instead who pushed Daisuke out of the way. Daisuke fell on the ground with a thud, his dark brown eyes widened with shock as he stared at the dagger sticking out Sakura's left shoulder.

"Ah you're a fool," Kaemon spat. "Sacrificing yourself for a mere teammate."

Sakura panted slightly and pulled out the small dagger sticking into her skin. Luck finally ran partly into her favour as she saw that the point of the small blade wasn't poisoned as she thought it was. But seeing his quick tricks and fluid attack she was glad that she wasn't alone. She had Daisuke at her side so she wasn't fighting this man alone. He seemed tricky and very assure of himself and his skills. Maybe that was his weakness to, his arrogance. She stumbled slightly as she got up, her emerald eyes fixed upon their target.

Daisuke got up from the ground also, ashamed that his captain was forced to protect him once again. Grabbing his dagger once again he moved to Sakura's side in a defensive hold. Handing Sakura his other dagger which Sakura gladly took over she watched as Kaemon slowly stood up.

"You guys think you can defeat me? Make your best shot." He opened his arms in a welcoming manner as he closed his eyes. Sakura felt Daisuke move and was glad she was still fast enough to grab his shirt to haul him back.

Shaking her head slightly at him she let him loose knowing he wouldn't charge him anymore. Grabbing the senbon she'd hid in her hair she threw it at him. It seemed to collide with an unknown force since the senbon stopped midair only to disappear in flames.

Sakura's eyes widened and cursed softly. So it seemed something was protecting him and it was invisible for their eyes. Not wanting to take any risks she grabbed one of the chairs and threw it at him, her eyes looking with concentration to where the invisible force was coming from and how big it was. The force only seems to surround around Kaemon himself as a yellow glow appeared around him as the chair collided with the shield. And as the contact faded the yellow glow did also, once again invisible for their eyes. And even if was only for a small second visible it was long enough for Sakura to see the weakness of the strange shield surrounding her opponent.

But this time Sakura was to slow to dodge the sudden attack Kaemon launched at her. She cursed softly as she flew across the room, thrown against the door that broke through the strength Kaemon had sent Sakura flying. Now lying in the hall she blinked softly, rolling over and groaning softly at the pain spreading through her back. She heard someone yelling her name and guessed it was Daisuke.

Her eyes widened as she sent the flare of chakra and quickly jumped up, forcing chakra into her feet so she clung above. Keamon now standing under her turned his head upwards and smirked at her. Running over the wall, she heard the crash of another chair colliding with the shield. Forcing more chakra into her feet she speeded through the halls and finally found what she was looking for. Grabbing the metal gloves she'd seen and the sword she sprinted back, hoping to be in time to help Daisuke.

When she returned in the meeting room she was in she saw in one of the walls a crack that was shaped in the form of person. Not seeing them in the room she flared up her chakra, trying to sense her team mate. Knowing where he was she jumped over de door lying on the floor and speeded upwards. Finally finding them she forced chakra into the metal glove as she braced herself for the impact. As she hoped her glove collided with the shield, but since the impact was with great force, it creating a hole in the field for a mere second. But it was long enough for Sakura to go through and attack Keamon. Grabbing the sword she'd taken earlier she swung at him, cutting him in his arm.

Kaemon stumbled backwards, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at the pink woman before him. He saw that the side of the sword was stained with blood, his blood. A flash of pink reached him again and a sharp pain rang through his lower abdomen.

"How? How did you get through?!"

"Your arrogance was your downfall Kaemon. I saw when then chair collided with the shield that there was a hole created for a mere second. And it was long enough for me."

Striking once again he dodged her blade; his smirk vanished and was replaced by a scowl. But then something unexpected happened. The ground started to shake, making Sakura to loose her balance. The alarm went off and startled Sakura looked up, just in time to stop the attack aimed at her.

"Daisuke get to the others and get the hell out!" Sakura yelled as she continued to fight with Kaemon.

"But captain-," Daisuke struggled.

"That's an order!" Sakura yelled back.

"I'm sorry but I have to disobey that order." Instead he fought off any guards that came in their way so they didn't interrupt Sakura's fight with their leader. At one point it really pissed her off that he denied a straight order but on the other side she was happy that he didn't leave.

**xXx**

After the car was placed into the stables, they were left alone. When finally sure that no one was around they got out. They blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the darkness surrounding them.

"Which way?" Nami asked softly, trying to locate an exit.

"Well not that way," Renge whispered back, pointing at the double doors they've gone trough. "It's an exit alright, but leading towards the courtyard where all the guards are."

"C'mon hurry up! We need to find that girl and get to Sakura-chan to help her!" Naruto whined loudly.

"Keep it low dickless!" Sai hissed, slamming his hand over the loudmouth's mouth. "You warn the guards.

Glaring daggers as hard as he good, Naruto pushed the hand of his mouth. "Alright! Shh yourself!"

Yamato sighed, shaking his head at the two. He turned his gaze at his sempai who had been quiet for quite awhile now. He seemed to be lost in thoughts, but he knew that the man was alert, he always was.

"I wish I asked Sakura to teach me the jutsu she always uses to check the surroundings, it would be quite helpful," Nami sighed.

Nami's muttering caught Kakashi's attention and thanked the girl silently for bringing that jutsu up. He'd seen Sakura use that jutsu a few times when they were undercover while his sharingan was out in the open. Thinking back at the memory his hands flew over the jutsu before he kneeled down, his hands slamming onto the ground.

It seemed that the dark blonde man was right. Behind the big entrance before them was the courtyard and was surrounded with a lot of enemy shinobi's. But what he also saw was that Sakura, Daisuke and the person that was called Kaemon was on the third floor. Searching deeper he finally found what he was looking for. The girl was not so far away from their position, a great relief itself. Memorizing the way he released the jutsu and turned around at the wall behind them.

"You know that jutsu?" Nami asked in awe.

Kakashi ignored her question as he pushed his ear against the wall and started knocking. It may look weird towards his companions but it did work. Finally finding the spot he was looking for he stopped in front of it.

"After this wall is gone we split up in groups, one fighting off the guards as the others will come with me towards the girl. We meet here back again."

They all nodded already making groups themselves. Nami and Renge going with Kakashi to find the girl he already located and Yamato, Sai and Naruto fighting off the guards. Without much of a warning only the chirping sound of the chidori now formed in his hand Kakashi slammed it into the wall now breaking in front of them.

"MOVE!" They all sprinted after Kakashi and stopped briefly when they arrived in the big main hall, guards filling up the place.

"Good luck sempai," Yamato whispered at them before he launched at the enemy before them. Naruto and Sai quickly followed his lead, distracting the guards so that the others could slip away.

The alarm went off and inwardly Kakashi cursed. It may interrupt Sakura's and Daisuke's plan. Running through the corridors he silenced the guards quickly that came around the corners, not letting them have a chance to stop them or fight back. Finally reaching the little girls cell, he slammed his chidori in one of the guards. A flash of red went past him and he heard a gurgling sound soon after. Turning his head into the direction he saw that the girl of Sakura's team had sliced the man's throat, now suffocating in his own blood. After another merciful stab she ended his misery and whipped the blood of the katana.

Trying to open the door, they found out it was locked. Nami and Renge took a step back as Kakashi kicked in the door. There at the farest wall from the entrance was the girl. Her head hanging limply as her chin touched her chest. Her arms were tilted up and seemed only to be up because of the cuffs that were locked around her wrists was holding it up. Her form was covered in dirt and bruises and she seemed seconds away from loosing consciousness. Kakashi's heart clenched at the sight and made his way towards the girl.

Her violet eyes widened with fright at his action and tried to force herself further back, the chains rattling with her movement. "Stay away!" she cried out.

"Shh, it's alright, we're here to safe you." Kakashi tried to comfort the girl.

"Liar!" she spat back.

"We're friends of Sakura-chan; we already saved your father Hiro-san." Nami spoke up.

At the mention of Sakura's name the girl looked up hopefully. "You know Sakura-chan?"

Nami nodded making her way towards the girl and kneeled down before her. "Yeah I know her. She's my captain."

"Where is she?"

"She's fighting off the big meany guy that did this to you."

A happy glint appeared in her violet eyes, a small smile creeping up her face. "I knew Sakura-chan would come to save me."

Nami smiled back and ruffled her hair to give her a bit comfort. "Close your eyes for awhile."

As Akira closed her eyes Nami grabbed her katana and forced some chakra in it. Slamming the blade against the iron chains, the girl was finally freed from her prison. Tilting up the girl in her arms, Akira swung her now free arms around the red haired woman.

"Hold on tight alright? We're going to leave." Akira only nodded, lying down her head on Nami's shoulder. Kakashi had already spoken through the head sets that they had the girl and heading out. They reached the others when suddenly the whole castle started to tremble, parts falling down. Akira screamed, pushing herself closer to Nami to seek for safety.

"This building is going to collapse," Renge yelled out through the noise. "We need to get out now while we still can!"

"We can't! We still have to wait for Sakura and Daisuke!"

"Sakura can you hear me?" Yamato spoke through the headset, but to their greatest fear it kept silent on the line. "Daisuke answer me!"

Finally after some agonizing slow minutes something started to crack on the other side of the line. "Daisuke here, just get the hell out of this place, me and captain is going to finish this." And then it was silent once again.

Nodding at each other they took off, sprinting running outside the building. When they were on a safe distant Kakashi turned his head back, staring at the collapsing castle. Another explosion went off and the first big part fell down. His heart raced in his chest as he hoped Sakura would be safe.

Then out of the smoke was a bright blue light before he had to close his eyes by the blast. When the sudden wind wave was over he looked up terrified now that the castle was completely gone and no sign of Sakura or Daisuke.

Nami placed Akira on the ground, running over to the edge and yelling for her team mates over and over again. "CAPTAIN! DAISUKE!"

Her legs started to tremble as she fell down on the thick layer of snow, tears started to shine through her eyes. "DAISUKE!"

The answer to her call was a loud yell and shocked Nami stared at the big black flying thing flashing before her vision before it disappeared. Quickly tilting her head up; she stared shocked at the flying form that was Daisuke. He was moving his arms rapidly as if he thought if he could move them hard enough he would fly. But his plan failed, falling down pretty hard and landed a few yards away from Nami; head first in the snow and only his legs sticking out.

Then a spike of chakra caught her attention soon after and saw a blur of pink out of the corner of her eyes. But unlike flying like Daisuke did; Sakura only flew a few yards in the air and landed gracefully on her feet. She looked a bit shaken up, another cut on her upper arm and stab wound on her left shoulder bleeding like a runt but it seemed not to bother her.

"Sakura-chan!" Akira yelled out on her time, rustling out of the embrace of Renge who hugged her from behind as Nami had let her go and ran to the pink haired girl.

The girl in question smiled brightly opened her arms and caught the racing form that moved towards her. "I knew you would come Sakura-chan! I never doubted you," Akira sobbed, grabbing the pink girl rather hard.

Sakura's grimaced at her strong hold but hugged her just as fierce back. Pushing her a bit back she looked at her appearance before she sighed, forcing chakra into her hands and starting to heal the visible wounds on the girl, quickly checking for any internal wounds or bleeding in the progress. When she was done she quickly laid her hand down on her own wound, disappearing in a matter of seconds. Then after the green dim faded out she stood up and started to heal her own stab wound that it wouldn't bother her so much.

"As much I like snow," a muffled voice sounded suddenly, "BUT CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME?!"

Tilting her head up to the direction Sakura choked, not wanting to laugh at the sight before her. Her eyes betrayed her though, glowing with amusement of Daisuke's failed landing. Walking over to the legs dangling in the air she grabbed one of them, pulling him out. Daisuke spitted out a bit snow and glared at his captain, shaking his head to get the snow out. "Next time you throw me, please add less chakra in the throw if you please."

"Sorry," Sakura smiled apologetically but couldn't help the snicker that followed. Daisuke only glared at her. "You're so going to buy the next rounds in the Broken Bottle when we're back."

"Fine," Sakura answered calmly. Holding her hand up to Akira, she tilted the young girl upon her back, making sure she wouldn't fall off before turning to the rest of the team. "Well seeing everyone is still in one peace, shall we get moving?"

Kakashi shook his head smiling as Sakura passed him by, she never stopped to amaze him.

_**To be continued…**_


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Yet another story finished! I want to thank all the loyal reviewers (way to much to name them all but the ones I'm talking about know themselves that I'm talking about them) and readers that had stayed with the story all the way. Special thanks to my beta and dear friend V. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Chapter 28:**

On their way back Akira never left Sakura's side. She was next to her when they travelled in the daylight, she was there when Akira wanted to bathe and that kind of stuff and when it was night she chose Sakura as her pillow. It wasn't because she didn't trust the rest of her saviours or they frightened her. It was because she already knew the pink haired ANBU captain and she always felt safe when she was in Sakura's presence no matter what situation she might be in.

Sakura didn't mind it at all that Akira never left her side; it was easier for her to keep an eye on her so she wouldn't get hurt in any way. And of course there was the fact that it was her little sister who was clinging to her side, even if she hadn't told Akira the news yet. It wasn't that she hadn't try, she had. But every time she took the little girl aside she couldn't get her tongue to move, couldn't find the right words to say it. It was her mother after all that had caused this girl the pain of not growing up with a mother. It also wasn't her place to say it; she should hear it from her father that no doubt had already had seen her mother, well **their** mother now. Or of course from Hanu herself; it was her after all that left them so it would only be fair for her to tell Akira that she was her mother.

On the last night they spent out in the woods Sakura offered to be on patrol. While she leaned against the tree, she softly stroked the black strands out of her younger sister's face as she lay peacefully sleeping in her lap; Sakura's travelling cloak wrapped around her so she wouldn't get cold.

Sakura sighed, turning her gaze from Akira to the cloudless night sky. Tomorrow at noon they would reach the green gates and then all hell would break loose. How would Akira react when she heard Hanu was her mother? Would she accept the fact they were family or hate her because she didn't tell her the moment she knew about it?

To the rest of the world it would seem as if she was deep in thought and that was also what Kakashi was thinking when he quietly stepped out of the tent he was sharing with Yamato and Renge. His eye stopped on the worried kunoichi and he started to make her way towards her. Sitting down next to her he felt Sakura shift and soon after her head rested upon his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked softly not wanting to wake up the sleeping girl in Sakura's lap.

Sakura tilted her head back down, her eyes staring at Akira as she spoke. "Every time I try to tell her we're family I close up and I can't get the words passed my lips. I know I'm not the one that should tell her what happened but on the other hand I want to, to spare her the pain of hearing it from my mother and knowing I knew it all along."

"What do you think you're supposed to do?"

"I don't know! And that's the problem."

"Stop trying to think with your head Sakura. Use your heart for once, what does your heart tell you to do?"

Sakura kept silent for awhile pondering over the consequences her choice would bring. "That I should tell her."

"Then go tell her that you're her sister," Kakashi whispered back softly and kissed her on the cheek. "And when she doesn't believe you, you can at least say you told her so she can't blame you not for informing her of the news."

Sakura smiled nuzzling closer to Kakashi and breathing in his scent. "Thanks Kakashi."

"You're welcome." Tilting her head a bit up, he gave her a chaste kiss, savouring the warmth of her lips against his masked ones before he stood up. Stretching as he yawned sleepily.

"Go to sleep Kakashi, that's an order," Sakura grinned.

"Yes ma'am," Kakashi grinned back before walking back into the tent.

The next morning Sakura took Akira apart from the group while they were all having breakfast. Walking over to the small river, Sakura placed Akira on one of the bigger rocks so she was at the same height as her. Sakura sighed, trying to keep her nerves down.

"Is something wrong Sakura-chan?" Akira asked softly, her voice holding a worried tone.

"Everything is fine," Sakura reassured her. "But I've got something to tell you."

"Sure."

"Uhm…how should I say this?" Sakura's hands were placed at either side of Akira as she leaned against the rock and her head tilted down. "Alright," tilting her head back up, she stared straight into the violet colored eyes. "I know your mother." It wasn't something she planned to say at all, but now it was out she couldn't really take it back either.

Akira's eyes widened with shock, her jaw slightly dropped at awe. "W-what? But how?"

Sakura swallowed heavily. "I know her because your mother is also my mother. When Jun came to tell the information that you were captured he saw my, I mean **our** mother and told me the news."

Akira stared at Sakura with disbelief. "So you knew all along?" Sakura nodded her eyes saddened. "Why haven't you told me?" Her voice sounded angry.

"I tried but every time I failed to tell you. I didn't want you to hate me." Turning around Sakura slid down the rock her head tilted down. A soft thud was heard and soon after there were two soft hands placed upon either cheek, forcing her to look up.

"I could never hate you Sakura-chan. I'm just a bit shocked to find out you're my…," she swallowed as she tried to form the words but couldn't get it past her lips just yet.

"It's alright you won't have to call me that way. But it does explain the bond you felt with me back then." Akira nodded and stood up herself; watching her elder sister also getting up.

"Come, we should go back to the group if we want to reach the village by noon." Akira smiled climbing back onto her back and kissed her cheek. "Thank you for telling me Sakura-chan, I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Sakura smiled back and adjusting her grip on the girl she walked back to the camp.

**xXx**

Sakura sighed as she stared at the prison before her. It's been a week that she returned from the Land of Snow. And now was the time that they finally came to a decision what to do with Sasuke. She stared down at the scroll in her hand where her order had been written. With her perfect chakra control and their decision to do with Sasuke it was only her to fit the bill to deliver his punishment. She just hoped that someday he would forgive her about what she was about to do to him.

Giving a silent nod to the guards that already knew what she was doing here let her pass, bowing their hand in acknowledgement. Her feet let her blindly through the corridors without a second thought. She stopped in front of the cell she was ordered and only tilted her head up then to see the person behind the bars. He wasn't much different; he looked still the same as they had last met. They stared at each other silently, Sakura not really wanting to do what she was ordered to do and Sasuke trying to read her face of why she was here.

"Sasuke Uchiha, today is the day your punishment will be fulfilled of all the deeds you've done. Have you anything to say before I care out the order?" Sakura said without any emotion.

Sasuke remained silent and kept staring at the woman before her. Sakura knowing he wouldn't say anything slipped into the cell and placed the scroll she was carrying with her on the ground and rolled it out. Pulling off her gloves she sighed heavily before she stared at Sasuke's cold eyes.

"Before I begin I want you to know that you're brother isn't alive and has been punished for what he had done to you," Sakura said softly. She saw Sasuke's eyes widened with surprised and a questionable look followed soon after. Knowing what he was asking she tilted her head down. "I killed him."

Sasuke simply stared at her not emotion filling his eyes or betraying how he felt. Knowing that every attempt of remorse would simply be pushed away Sakura remained silent also and started to make the seals. She was going to extract every knowledge Sasuke had of techniques, fighting skills, his friends and his horrible past. And every Sakura was done she was to manipulate his chakra system so that he wouldn't get anymore chakra higher than the rate of a normal civilian so he wouldn't hurt anymore people. It was the worse punishment Sasuke could get in Sakura's eyes because it was the only thing he had left. She scowled inwardly at the scroll, rolled out before her and most of all she hated it herself. That she was the one chosen to rip his life away from him like he had with hers. But instead of feeling happy of getting the chance of getting him back of giving her so much pain, Sakura didn't want to do this because deep in her heart Sasuke only did it out of love to protect her even if his methods were wrong. He believed it was right and acted it out so she was out of harm.

"I'm sorry about what I'm going to do to you. Even after all what you've done, you only did it because you thought it was right in your eyes. And you don't deserve such punishment placed upon you." She hoped that Sasuke would say something to her, but yet again he remained silent.

Sighing and giving up any attempts to get Sasuke talking she finished her seals and placed her hands on his head, extracting every memory he had stored in his brain. He screamed at the pain caused by the jutsu but Sakura couldn't do anything to lessen the pain. His screams faltered soon after as he fell into unconsciousness and when every drop of knowledge Sasuke had was taken from him she placed her hands on the scroll sealing it away on the white sheet of paper before rolling it up and placing an S-rank seal upon it. She turned back at Sasuke's limp body and aced out the next part of his punishment. After she was done she stared at the limp form before her knowing that he would never be the one she'd known all along. She stroked some of his bangs away, whispering an apology before she walked out of his cell and out of his life forever.

5 years later

Sakura smiled softly as the green gates came into view. Speeding up a bit more she noticed familiar chakra signals at the gates.

"Don't count on Sakura getting here on time sweetheart, she's not due to come back for two days yet," Sakura heard her mother say.

"But Sakura-onee-chan would never ever miss my birthday, she promised," another feminine voice said. Sakura's smile widened and once she was close to the gates she leapt out of the trees onto the main travelling road for them to see her. A scream followed soon after and Sakura stopped her high speed to avoid colliding with the twelve year old girl that ran towards her. Opening her arms she swung the girl in the air who in her turn laughed outright.

"You're home Nee-chan! I knew you would make it." Akira said smiling brightly and hugging the pink haired woman.

"I wouldn't miss your birthday for the world," Sakura smiled back as she put the birthday girl onto the ground. Her gloved hand slid towards her pouch and held out a small package. The black haired girl squealed hugging her big sister once again before she opened the little box and held out a beautiful bracelet with a matching necklace.

"Oh wow, its beautiful nee-chan," Akira said in awe.

"I'm glad you like it," Sakura said smiling, and ruffled the girl's hair. Tiling her head back up to the entrance she stared at her mother and stepfather waiting there patiently for her to make her way to them.

Taking hold of Akira's free hand they made their way back to the green gates, Sakura letting Akira go so she could hug her mother and her stepfather.

"Welcome back Sakura, you finished early." Hiro said smiling as he let the girl go.

"I never break my promises," Sakura said with a wink.

"Ne, Sakura-onee-chan the others are in the Ramen stand, come on lets go! I want to show them the necklace you gave me." Akira whined, grabbing Sakura's free hand and pulling on it to get her to move.

Sakura laughed waved goodbye to her parent's and saluting Izumo who was on duty, she and her sister made their way towards the Ichiraku's. Almost reaching the stand Akira let go of her hand racing towards the blonde sitting in the middle of the group people sitting there.

"Naruto look what I got from nee-chan!" She held up her arm and bracelet smiling brightly all the while. She and Naruto became good friends over the years. Ever since Hiro took a step back from his job back in the land of Grass, he moved with Jun and Akira to Konoha to live. It was a strange sight for Sakura to see her mother in love a with another man, but knowing Hiro herself quite well she knew that those two would be good for each other and they were happy. One year after their move, they married back in Grass for the sake of Hiro's parents. Ever since that they'd lived happily together in the Haruno compound Sakura grew up in. Hanu asked her to move back in, but Sakura still preferred living with Ino. But that fact would change soon Sakura thought happily as she walked into the stand and her eyes fell on her boyfriend hiding behind one of his smutty books. If everything went as planned they would be moving in together next week.

"Hey guys," Sakura greeted them as she moved to Kakashi to sit in his lap. She kissed him softly on his cheek before turning to the others.

"You're early captain," Daisuke commented as he waved his hand in a greeting.

"Easy mission," Sakura shrugged it off. "And I couldn't miss Akira's birthday of now could I?"

The girl in question shook her head as she stared at her elder sister. "No because you already missed eight of them, and to make it up you have to come to every birthday I ever have now!"

Sakura chuckled ruffling her hair as Kakashi did with her when she was younger. "And I'll be there; I made that promise didn't I?"

Akira nodded, her violet eyes twinkling brightly with happiness. She was rather close with Sakura, and whenever Sakura was in town, those two wouldn't be far apart for most of the time.

"Captain?" Daisuke suddenly asked.

"Hmm?" Sakura looked up and raised her eyebrow confused as she saw how worried Daisuke was.

"I was wondering if you could…" He mumbled the last piece of the sentence so that it was almost inaudible. Sakura heard it though; having heard it a couple of times. A short laugh escaped her lips as she shook her head.

"Got yourself in trouble yet again, haven't you? Fine I'll help you out. Give me the name and photo and consider it done."

"Thanks captain," Daisuke sighed in relief and handed her a picture. "I've written the name on the picture myself."

Sakura took one look at the picture before she shook her head, chuckling all the while as she did so. "Man, how drunk were you?"

This caused Renge, Nami and Naruto to laugh loudly. "No way you really left with that ugly bum?" Naruto said snickering.

Daisuke sighed, his head hung down as his friends left at him. "Yeah, yeah I know. But I after that drinking match with Naruto she offered to help me home."

"And apparently she did something more too," Nami sighed. "You know captain won't always help your sorry ass."

Sakura putted the picture in her pouch before she got up. "Well guys I'm leaving to talk to Shishou, she's expecting me after all. No doubt Izumo already sent her a message that I've arrived."

Akira stood up also, jumping on Sakura's back and wrapping her arms around her neck and her legs around Sakura's waist. "Nee-chan can you leap over the rooftops again?"

"You know what Hiro thinks of that," Sakura said sternly.

"Pleassssee…. It's my birthday."

"Oh alright. I'll see you guys later." And before anyone could say anything the sisters were already gone.

When they arrived at Hokage tower Sakura left Akira with the receptionist as she walked further in, towards the office. Knocking on the door three times she entered.

"Welcome home Sakura," Tsunade said as she looked up from the files in front of her.

"Shishou," Sakura replied back with a nod. "The mission was a success as always."

"Don't get so cocky girl, it could come back to bite you in the ass someday."

Sakura only grinned and walked over to the desk, staring at the picture were Tsunade and herself were standing together. She was 13 in that picture when she managed to split a rock in two with just a flick of her finger. Catching her gaze Tsunade smiled softly. "It seems so far away doesn't it?"

"Yes it does."

"I'm proud of you Sakura. You finally returned home."

"I always have been here Shishou," Sakura said confused.

Tsunade got up from her chair, moved around the desk as her hand grabbed the mirror that lay on a pile of files. She held it in front of Sakura as she stood behind her. Staring at her reflexion she saw a pink haired ANBU, her features were still the same but her eyes, they weren't deadened and dark like they had been. No, these one's were brightened by happiness and held a peaceful glance, the look she'd had back when she was still a lively girl that didn't know the pain of her team mates leaving her behind. Sakura smiled, Tsunade was right, she'd finally come home.

**xXx**

"And that's how the infamous Pink illusion learned how to love again," Sakura finished her story. "With a lot of help from your father of course." She smiled down at her two sons lying against her as she told them the story.

"Wow that was awesome mother." Hikaru said in awe, his pink haired strands resting before his onyx eyes as he stared up at his mother.

"You're a great story teller mother," Obito said, pushing silver strands of hair away from his eyes and yawning slightly.

"Can you tell us another one?" Hiraku asked hopefully.

"Not tonight, you two are going to bed, prompto!" Sakura said, moving quickly to chase her sons as they ran away. They shrieked happily as Sakura caught them, throwing them over her shoulder and placing them in their beds.

"Mother?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you," Obito softly said and closed his eyes with a sigh.

"I love you too Obito," Sakura said her eyes looking lovingly down at her youngest son and she kissed him on the forehead. She turned around to Hikaru and tucked him in.

"Goodnight mother,"

"Sleep well Hikaru," Sakura said and kissed him on the forehead too.

She stared at the two for awhile, not wanting to leave just yet. Seeing movement at the entrance she tilted her head up to look at her husband leaning in against the door. "They're asleep?"

Sakura nodded, stood up from her place and walked over to Kakashi. "They demanded that I tell them the story of the Pink Illusion." She snickered softly as she said that, leaning in to rest against the comfortable warmth Kakashi provided.

"Hmm," He kissed her softly on her lips and laughed inwardly as he saw that Sakura had fallen asleep against him. Tilting his wife up in his arms he carried her towards their bedroom, laying her down on the bed before walking back to his son's room. He stared at them lovingly before he closed the door behind him with a soft click.

**The end**


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